Set in Stone
by DoThePieFace
Summary: 15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But with him he brings secrets and deception. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed’s made before its too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?
1. Arguements and Bets

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Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a strange imagination. 

**Summary: **15 years has passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But with him he brings secrets and deception. It seems, that Ed's attracted the attention of unwanted company, and they'll stop at nothing for the knowledge he has. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Warning: **May contain spoilers for movie and/or later episodes in the series. Take that in mind for the whole story, because I'm too lazy to put it in more than once. :P

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**Chapter One  
**_Arguements and Bets_

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'_We'll fight, not out of spite,  
_'_Cause someone must stand up for what's right,'  
__**Jewel - Hands**_

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"You can't have cared that much! If you couldn't even take the time to come and see us!" 

"It's not like I had a choice, alright! If you're going to be like that then screw you! I shouldn't have come back in the first place." Edward stormed out of the house, slamming the door shut behind him only to have it open again moments later. After all the searching, after everything that had happened so that he could find a way back across the gate, this was the reception he got. If anything, his angry stride increased in defiance.

"What do you mean you didn't have a choice?" Al asked, having opened the door and heading after Ed. Ed spun around in a rage and glared coldly at Al. "Please brother," Edward found it strange that even after all these years Alphonse still called him brother as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "I just want to know what happened. Where have you been?"

Ed ignored him and once again spun around, briefcase clutched in his left hand, choosing instead to continue down the sidewalk. He apparently changed his mind and spun around again, to face Al who had begun down the stairs. "You know, after everything that we've been through together, after all that we've done and seen I would've thought that you would've been happy to see me. That it wouldn't matter where I'd been or what I'd done, that _you _of all people, would be patient enough to wait until I was ready to tell you."

With that said, he turned and stormed off down the path again, but not before he heard Alphonse's quiet comment. "I guess a lot can change in 15 years…" He said, sighing when Ed made no effort to stop or slow down and finally disappeared around the corner.

"Honey?" Alphonse turned to look at the woman who had emerged from their house. "Are you alright?" She asked, concern lacing her voice, and Al sighed again.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He turned and headed back into the house with her. "I just…can't say I expected…any of this. I can't say I thought we'd meet like that. I'm not angry with him, not really." He said, closing the door so they were alone in the house. "I'm angry at myself, for giving up on him…"

"It's alright," She said, taking his hand and half-dragging him back into the lounge room. "From what I've heard, this argument won't last long. You both just need some time to handle the shock. You two'll be fine in no time, you'll see."

* * *

By the time Ed had made it to the only other place he thought he could stay, he had calmed down. Despite the fact that logically he knew that his old team should've been moved, he headed down the same familiar hallways anyway – silently rolling his eyes at the lack of security. He turned the doorknob with a steadying breath, vowing not to get angry yet again, and opened the door in much the same fashion he had when he was younger. 

He was disappointed however, when he was greeted with an empty room and closed the door again, picking up his briefcase and placing it next to the couch. He was only going to sit down for a few minutes, and then head to the information desk and find out where they had all gone. However he had just taken a seat when the door opened again and a familiar figure entered. Ed smirked, this time; _he _would catch the bastard off guard.

Mustang was indeed caught off guard and sent a curious look towards the newcomer. "Is there a reason you –" But he stopped short and his eyes narrowed, in a sense of recognition. "Do I…know you?" He asked and Ed scoffed, silently storing the look of slow comprehension on Mustangs face away in his memory.

"I should hope so, bastard." He added, just for good measure. And Ed was rewarded with the most shocked look he could ever recall seeing on Mustang's face.

"Fullmetal?" He asked and Ed glared.

"Still haven't learnt my name I see," He replied, deciding he was in the right place and stretching out on the leather chairs. "You know, the security in this place has really gone down. And," he picked at a tear in the leather. "I really think it's time you rearranged this room, it looks exactly the same as it did the last time I was here."

"I'm surprised you can remember that far back." Mustang said disbelief still on his face and in his voice. He had the sense to move to his desk though, and placed his coffee – Ed suspected purposely – on a form of some kind, effectively making the writing indistinguishable. "What – why – what are you doing here?" He asked at last and Ed yawned.

"I need a place to crash." He said, "And it's not like I know too many people. I thought it'd be easiest to come here."

"I can…uh…give you Alphonse's address if you'd like." Mustang said, beginning to regain a sense of normalcy, though still thoroughly confused. Ed looked away, a look of anger passing across his features. Needless to say, Mustang's interest was tweaked.

"I've already been, and I'd prefer the barracks." He replied, before fixing Mustang with a glare. "And no I would not like to indulge you in the details." He said and Mustang winced mentally.

_Dammit, am I that predictable? _He thought to himself.

"I can read minds." Ed said, as though he were explaining something. Mustang scowled, clearly irritated.

"How'd you learn that one?" He asked.

"I've been hanging around Noa too much," He said, somewhat disinterestedly. "That and you're easy to read."

"Noa?" Mustang questioned.

"Never mind." Ed said, turning his attention back to the other man in the office. "So, m'hearty," He teased, putting on a fake pirate accent, "What be with ye eye? Were ye playing with sticks again? Or be it something else, yarr?" He asked. "Ye be trying to start a new trend? It be very unfashionable." He stated and Mustang smirked.

"Like a pirate would know what the word 'unfashionable' means. And it'll be the apocalypse before I take fashion advice from _ye_." He mocked, gesturing at the ensemble Ed wore.

"I'll have you know," Ed defended, "That _this _is considered _very _fashionable in –" He stopped suddenly and Mustang raised an eyebrow.

"Very fashionable where, Fullmetal?" He asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Very suave Mustang. But you're not getting anything out of me." He replied and Mustang sat in his seat.

"Why not?" Mustang asked. "You disappear for 15 years; we all thought you were dead –"

"Well, great to know you put so much confidence in me." Ed muttered.

"– and you expect us not to be curious. You expect us not to try and blackmail answers out of you." Mustang asked, in all seriousness.

"It would be nice of you to show an ounce of humanity, Mustang. I don't think it's going to do harm to anything – except perhaps your reputation." Ed said, sarcastically. "I just got back, give me a break."

"Where did you get 'back' from? That's all I want to know." Ed scoffed.

"You wouldn't understand if I told you anyway,"

"Try me." Mustang replied, finally taking a drink from his cooled coffee.

Ed sighed, closing his eyes in irritation. "Look," he said. "Are you going to find me a room, or was coming here as much as a waste of time as…" he trailed off again, and once again Mustang's curiosity was provoked. "No, I'm not telling you." Ed said, in determined irritation and stood up, grabbing his briefcase and ignoring the woman who opened the door, instead waltzing straight past her. "Thanks for nothing." He called angrily, annoyed at himself for breaking the vow he'd made before going in.

The woman stared after him, trying to place where she'd seen him from. She realised with a start and turned to Mustang so quickly that he swore something in her neck had to have clicked. "Was that..?" She asked and Mustang nodded.

"I'm still recovering." He admitted with a grin and she saluted sharply, even as he restrained from rolling his eyes.

"Permission to –" She began but he cut her off.

"Why are you always so formal?" He asked. "Relax a little Riza." He said and she glared at him.

"Perhaps, while we're at work _Roy_. You could try to be a little _more _formal." She huffed and followed Edward down the hallway, Black-Hayate trailing after her tied to a lead.

"I hate when he always stirs up trouble." Mustang muttered to himself with a frustrated sigh and picked up the phone receiver. "Something's different about you, Fullmetal." He said quietly, twisting the gold band around his ring finger.

* * *

"Edward!" Hawkeye called, running through the halls, much to the surprise of the other officers – Hawkeye never broke the 'running through the hallway' rule. She never broke any rules. She finally caught up to the fuming man and placed a hand on his shoulder as he whirled around. 

"I don't want to hear it Hawkeye," He said, and she couldn't help but smile at the _familiarity _of it. "If Mustang sent you after me so he can piss me off some more tell him to shove it up his –"

"Language." Hawkeye said sharply and Ed glared.

"– chimney." He finished sarcastically. She smiled again, looking at him, and at how much he'd changed but still stayed the same. He looked so much older – then again, after 15 years she expected it – his hair was still long and pulled back into a ponytail, and she noticed he couldn't have shaved for a few days – something that was an entirely new prospect for her to accept about him. He had infact, grown a little, though she doubted he'd yet be boasting about his height.

She pulled him into a hug. "Wha–"

"It's good to see you Edward, I really mean it." She said, and felt Ed relax slightly in her grip, raising an awkward hand to half-hug her back; still pulling away rather hurriedly. "If you really do want a place to stay, you're always welcome to come and stay with Roy and I for a while." She offered, Ed grinned slyly, earning a suspicious glare.

"Roy?" He questioned, in just as a suspicious tone of voice. "My financial problem has just been solved," He announced, eyeing the engagement and wedding ring on her ring finger. He laughed gleefully and rubbed his hands together. "Where can I find Breda and Havoc?" He asked and the suspicious glare deepened.

"Why?" She asked.

"I bet those guys _ages _ago that you two would end up together. I bet them a large amount of money, and I intend to make them pay up." She sighed and smiled softly, remembering the guys habit of making bets about Havoc and Mustang's love lives.

"You're lucky the General was able to keep all his old subordinates, or you'd probably be running all over the place." She said, beginning back down the hallway, expecting Edward to follow. After a moments hesitation he turned around and followed her back the way they'd come.

"I suppose you're all still sticking with him then?" He asked. "How long has he been a General?"

"For a while. He was out for a bit after…the incident." She said, "And well, now that the military's no longer in control…a lot's changed since you've been gone." She said.

"I suppose…the Fürher's not around anymore then." He said, their voices both vague with a sense of understanding.

"Well," She smirked. "No one quite knows what happened with the previous Fürher." She said. "After all, his house was burnt to cinders, and it seems he was caught in the fire." Ed chuckled slightly.

"I thought he hadn't done it. I met someone, who…well…"

"Nice to see your faith in me is so strong, Fullmetal." Mustang said. Ed ignored him, walking back into the room, only to be greeted by a group of shocked faces. He stored those away in his memory too, laughing quietly at them. Havoc's cigarette fell out of his mouth.

"I offered him a place at our house, Roy." Hawkeye explained, letting Hayate off his leash and stowing said leash in one of the draws at her desk. Mustang looked outraged. "And before you say anything, I know you meant for me to." Ed smirked.

"Told you you're easy to read." He said.

"When is Winry arriving?" She continued and Ed looked at her.

"Why did you call Winry?" He asked, the three of them ignoring the shocked people in the room.

"The unmoving arm at your side would suggest you are in need of some new automail." Mustang explained. "She's catching the next train to Central. Should be here some time in the morning."

"I could've called her." Ed grumbled, once again sitting on one of the couches. "She's going to call me a lazy jerk because I didn't call her. Then she'll probably whack me over the head with a wrench, and I've been hit over the head with enough inanimate objects to last me a lifetime, Thankyou very much."

"Not even a thanks, so ungrateful." Mustang said, shaking his head.

"So…" Ed began looking at the still shocked – but recovering – group. "When did they become brain-dead?" He asked, laughing at his own joke.

"Is it really you Ed?" Fuery asked, and Ed nodded, sliding up to them.

"Yes, it is." He confirmed. "And I believe you –" he pointed to Havoc "– and you –" he pointed to Breda "– owe me a large sum of money."

"For what?" Havoc asked, still reeling at the fact that he was there standing in front of them, in the flesh and blood. Ed cocked his head towards Mustang and Hawkeye and Breda slapped his head in realization.

"I remember now, but – but I don't have that kind of money." He said and Ed smirked at him.

"Not my problem. As of now, you're in debt. And you," He turned to Havoc.

"I've actually got it." He said. "But!" He said. "You'll have to wait until…until I have recovered from the shock." He said, sincerely. He lit up another cigarette while Mustang glared at Breda and Havoc.

"Why do you owe him money?" He asked, "I was enjoying the fact that he was broke and dependent on us." He said, sounding annoyed.

"They bet – apparently a while ago – that you and I would end up together." Hawkeye explained calmly.

"Predictable!" Ed practically sang, earning himself a glare. "So…what do you actually do around here?" He asked a hand on chin while he leant on his elbow.

"I suppose Havoc could take you to Alphonse's." Hawkeye suggested, missing the look that once again passed Edwards face. "I don't like him smoking in here anyway."

"I think I'll go get reacquainted with Central." Ed said, stepping out of the room before anyone could say anything.

"Fullmetal and his brother have already had a falling out it seems." Mustang explained.

"Edward and Alphonse fighting?" Falman asked. "No way, they never fight."

"Yeah," Breda agreed, glancing sideways at Black-Hayate, who wagged his tail happily. Breda glared.

"It doesn't matter, they'll sort it out. Back to work." Mustang said. It was then that Hawkeye noticed he'd spilt coffee all over the paperwork he'd been assigned.

"Sir," she said threateningly and he looked up at her innocently.

"Yes, Colonel?" He asked and she glared. "This is the downside to being a higher-up." He sighed wistfully.

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'_The darkest hour is just before dawn, so, if you're going to steal your neighbors' milk, that's the time to do it.'

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**A/N: **I have decided to re-write a little of this. If you don't have the patience to go through and read it then I don't blame you. I hardly have the patience to re-write it, but I felt there were some plot holes that needed filling. The story-line isn't too different, but I tried to make the characters seem more like themselves as well as try to incorporate skills I hope I gained throughout the writing of this. Enjoy!

DoThePieFace

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	2. Confrontations and Secrets

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**Chapter Two  
**_Confrontations and Secrets_

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'_In the part of this universe that we know, there is great injustice, and often the good suffer, and the wicked prosper, and one hardly knows which of these is the more annoying.'  
**-- Bertrand Russell**_

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"It's a nice place you've got here Hawkeye. Or – wait – _Mrs. Mustang._" He grinned cheekily at her as she led him into the rather large house. "So, it's just the two of you here?" He asked slyly and she nodded. 

"And Black Hayate of course." She replied.

"Of course. When does Mustang usually make his grand appearance?" Ed asked, rolling his eyes and dropping his light suitcase on the spotless floor and looking around. The house was indeed beautiful, and he wondered how they had been able to afford it. Last he had known the both of them were living in shabby apartments. Well, Hawkeye's was considerably cleaner, but still shabby.

The hallway was painted white, with a decorated rug continuing down the corridor. The lounge was luxuriously furnished, with black leather seats and a glass coffee table – the seats looking as though Mustang had snitched them from work while the higher ups weren't looking. There were paintings that were hung on the wall, mostly scenery views; and a considerably large bookshelf, with what looked like a lot of stereotypical alchemic texts. There was a large window that over looked a veranda with a pool in the back yard.

"Once he's finished his paperwork he should head home, sometimes he does head out, but I think he'll be coming earlier so he can question you." She answered, setting the groceries they had picked up on the way in the kitchen.

"The only thing you're missing in this house is a Television." Ed sighed wistfully. "Maybe I could make one." He pondered aloud, "But then there's be no stations, I'd have to make a camera too, and I don't know how they work. Damn."

"What are you going on about Ed? A television?" Hawkeye stared at him. "And we've plenty of cameras that Hughes had given Roy." She said.

"Not moving ones." He said, thoughtful. "Hey Hawkeye?" he asked. She looked over at him curiously.

"D'you think you could show me where they buried him, I haven't been yet…" She nodded.

"I wasn't aware you knew he had passed on." She said quietly.

"Scheiska kinda let it slip when we were hiding out in Risembool, gotta remember to punch the Colonel for that. I don't care what his reasons were." He said before she could begin to defend him. "So I know the Colonel was promoted what about you lot?" he asked conversationally.

"I've been promoted to Colonel." She replied.

"Ooh, you beat me now. What a shame." She smiled at him.

"I'll still call you 'sir' if it will make you feel better."

"Nah, Ed's good."

"Fuery and Falman were made Lieutenants. And Havoc and Breda are Majors. Armstrong quit the military to help rebuild Lior and Ishbal."

"He quit, huh?" Ed mused. "Can't say I blame him; I'm surprised you lot are all still in the military. But, there you go rising through the ranks, and I never got higher than the lowest a State Alchemist can be." He said with a grin. "Am I even a State Alchemist anymore?" He wondered aloud.

"Well, Roy's sorting that out at the moment. You were labeled MIA for a while. That's Missing in Action, by the way."

"I know what it means, Hawkeye." Ed said, rolling his eyes. "I'm not that unknowledgeable in the area of military terms." She didn't say anything, merely smiled softly at him and turned to start preparing the evening meal. "Need any help?" He offered.

"I don't trust Alchemists' in my kitchen." She answered. "When I said flame grilled, I didn't mean set the kitchen on fire. Because of that, no one is in the kitchen but me when I'm cooking." Ed laughed and brought a chair over, sitting himself down so that he could see over the bench-top. "Winry won't be arriving until tomorrow morning sometime; I've organized for Mrs. Hughes to pick her up from the train station and she'll either stay with them, Scheiska or Alphonse."

"Okay."

Shortly after everything was cooking away in the kitchen Hawkeye showed Edward to her room in that efficient manor that just seemed natural to her. He thanked her, and flopped down on the bed while she attended to other things. He took of his boots and his coat and sighed heavily, withdrawing from his pocket an old photograph. He stared longingly at the picture for a moment, before he heard approaching footsteps, and hastily stowed it away.

Riza appeared in the door frame again, stating that dinner was almost ready and she suggested he wash up.

* * *

"About this argument between you and Alphonse," Hawkeye begun later that evening when they were eating the meal that she had made. Ed had to admit, she was an accomplished cook. "Care to enlighten me with what happened?" She asked gently, and he sighed. 

"I don't know," He admitted. "I went to visit him after I got the address from a phonebook." He laughed slightly. "I'd wanted to see him for so long, just to make sure…that he was alright." Hawkeye knew the look on his face, that sad smile he used to wear when he always spoke of his family, most of the time when they weren't around. "We hugged and all that kind of stuff, and then we started talking and well…one thing led to another and when I wouldn't tell him where I'd been we started arguing." He sighed again. "He changed a lot, although I can't say I shouldn't have expected it. 15 years is an awfully long time…"

"Alphonse was the first person you saw?" She asked, and he nodded, taking a bite of his schnitzel. "I suppose no one's told you yet then, that he doesn't remember those four years he spent in the armor?" Ed shook his head.

"No, he told me." He said, pieces of broccoli flying everywhere. He sent her an apologetic look.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." She scolded and he rolled his eyes and swallowed.

"I just…I thought it shouldn't have made too much of a difference. But I was being hot-headed again. I can't say I remember all the details of out childhood before the transmutation as well as I'd like to. And if he doesn't even remember the moments after…it's as though we didn't spend much time together at all. All those things that affected the both of us, no longer affect him, and he doesn't know why I'm always so…" he searched for the right word. "Different. I'm just different then what he would remember."

"He remembers you." Hawkeye said. "He spent most of the first few years looking for you. He even approached Roy about becoming a State Alchemist, but I suppose Roy was feeling guilty about what we'd assumed had happened to you and wouldn't let him."

"Damn straight!" Ed said. "First thing the bastards done right. He knows I'd smash him to a pulp if he let Alphonse join the military." Hawkeye laughed at him and he grinned. But then the grin faded. "I suppose its better he doesn't remember." Ed said and Hawkeye frowned slightly. "A lot of it wasn't pretty." She gathered up their empty plates, putting them in the sink of water.

"Would you forget it? If you had the chance?" she asked. Ed smiled.

"No, I suppose not." He replied. "Thanks for the dinner, delicious!" She thanked him and noticed that he was right. The young boy she'd known had grown up.

He got up and took over the chore of doing the dishes. "I've done it before; I'm not going to blow up the kitchen." He argued when she protested, and she took the same seat that he had dragged over to the kitchen. "I just…" He began hesitantly, his back facing her. "He's happy." He said finally. "He's got a wife and they're expecting a kid. I don't want to ruin that with my problems, so I decided then and there to keep it to myself. And despite that, the argument broke out so easily. I'm not sure if he wants me there."

"Of course he wants you there." Hawkeye reasoned. "Didn't I just say he spent most of his time looking for you? You're brothers; nothing's going to change that."

"Hmm, maybe so. Either way, I suppose things'll work themselves out in the end. Maybe he just needs some time to process it all. Maybe I need some time to process it all. Everything here is so different then to what I've become accustomed to…" Hawkeye was left to wonder at the question, and Edward finished the dishes, leaving them to dry on the rack and opting to have a shower.

"We're all practically family, Edward. No matter how much you've changed. Just announce things like the boys do." He smiled at her again, and she noticed that they were all indeed sad smiles, and that saddened her. Once again, her curiosity was aroused, but once again, she opted to keep her questions to herself until he was ready to share. She'd already gotten plenty out of him tonight.

"Thanks." He said quietly, and she could tell he meant it. "Could you look after my arm? Actually, if Winry's coming tomorrow, throw it out." He said, popping the arm – much to Hawkeye's surprise – right out of its socket. "Plastic." Edward explained. "Best artificial limb technology that there was."

"That's not technology." Hawkeye argued, looking at the flimsy arm. Ed laughed.

"Try living with it." He replied.

"What about your leg?" she asked and Ed pulled up the bottom of his pants, revealing the flesh beneath.

"Good as new." He replied, heading out to have a shower. Riza stared at the arm in her hand for a second, then laughed, and tossed it out for Black-Hayate to chew on. He barked happily at her, and turned to bury it in the lawn.

* * *

By the time Edward had returned from showering and re-dressing, Mustang and Hawkeye were sitting on the lounge discussing something he didn't care about. He walked in and winked at them. "Having some 'alone' time huh?" He asked slyly and Hawkeye chose to pretend she hadn't heard. 

Mustang raised an eyebrow, then suddenly threw his arm around Hawkeye's shoulder and pulled her closer to him. "Jealous, Fullmetal?" He asked. "That I've found a way to pass the time?" He smirked and Ed merely rolled his eyes. "You owe me Fullmetal, do you have any idea how much paperwork I had to do to get your records to say 'alive'?" Mustang complained.

"Good, I hope the pile was as high as Mount Everest." He replied cheerfully.

"What?" The both of them replied in unison.

"Really big mountain…ah never mind." He said, waving his arm at them.

"What happened to your arm Fullmetal?" Mustang asked, cocking his one visible eyebrow.

"I gave it to Black-Hayate." Hawkeye answered instead.

"I'm surprised that dogs still alive, it's like," he paused, doing the math in his head. "130 something in dog years."

"He's a survivor." Hawkeye answered fondly.

"Look, Fullmetal, we need to talk." Mustang said shortly. _Here we go._ Ed thought. "First things first, how have you been doing?" He asked, much to the surprise of Ed.

"What?" Ed asked, looking at him incredulously. Then he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Hawkeye told you that I wasn't going to say anything, didn't she." Mustang smirked, but before Ed could add in another 'predictable' he nodded.

"Yes, yes. But I can't say I'm not curious about other aspects of you absence." He replied. "So, how have you been?"

"Alright, I suppose," He said, trying to ignore the awkwardness associated with discussing feelings and well-being with Mustang of all people. "I've run into a bit of trouble here and there, but I appear to have a knack for attracting it." He said slowly. "And well…life's been a bitch as it always was." He said and Mustang rolled his eye.

"Always the optimist." He said sarcastically and Ed sneered at him, in a friendly way. "Riza tells me you're already filled in with Alphonse's situation. I suppose he also told you that he returned to Dublith to study with your teacher. He studied for a bit, traveled around, and when I wouldn't let him become a State Alchemist I heard he went to the other foreign countries."

"He met Michelle, his wife, in Drachma." Hawkeye added. "Once you get over your spat you can ask him about it yourself."

"After Fürher King Bradley was defeated, the military handed over control to the assembly. It's been governed like that for a long time, the small wars stopped years ago, though I think there's still a few going on over by the Eastern Borders. Needless to say, the change definitely was for the better." Mustang remarked.

"Awww! I know you're trying to hide your disappointment at never realizing your mini-skirt dream Mustang." Ed said, in an annoying mocking tone. Mustang smirked.

"I won't deny it." He said and Ed scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Riza and I were married almost 6 years ago, and I believe Alphonse has been with Michelle for 2 now."

"Winry went and studied in Rush Valley, she and Alphonse made a promise about something, but I'm unsure what it was. I know that…Pinako passed away." Hawkeye said hesitantly.

Ed sighed. "Yeah, Al told me. I expected that, she was old after all." He said quietly.

"Scheiska continued doing work for the military, but she quit a few years ago. She helps Gracia run a small hotel-like thing near their house." Ed laughed at that, and Hawkeye regarded him curiously.

"Nothing," He said, "I just…never mind. Just reminded me of something. Inside joke." He said, trying to brush off their strange looks. Hawkeye continued.

"The Ishbalan policy was reversed, and the city was rebuilt as well as Lior. I believe Rose moved back there for a while, but decided she liked the country better. She's living with Winry in Risembool now with her boy. I think he's Winry's apprentice."

"That sounds right; Winry would drag someone else into her crazy obsession. She can't help herself." He replied, before letting out a yawn.

"Look, Fullmetal." Mustang said and Ed resisted the urge to sigh, believing an argument was about to break out.

"I'm not goi–" He began, but Mustang cut him off.

"Go to bed, and try to think up _some _kind of _believable _explanation for where you've been." This time, he actually sighed. Mustang noticed he'd been doing that a lot as of late. Since when did Edward sigh?

"If I didn't tell Al, frankly, you've got no chance in hell. Don't start meddling in things you don't understand." He said, somewhat coldly, before standing up and deciding to take Mustang's advice and go to sleep.

"Hey!" Mustang replied loudly. "15 years is a long time Fullmetal!" He argued. "If I'm a little concerned about whatever the hell kind of mess that you've gotten yourself into, then it shouldn't be that big of a deal. If you tell me what's going on then maybe we can help." Ed ignored him and turned to go to the room Hawkeye had shown him.

"Edward." Hawkeye said and he stopped, growling in annoyance.

"You can't help." He replied at length. "What's done is done, and nothing's going to change that. You and I both know that we can't turn back time. If I don't want to talk about what happened, than that's my problem; and that should be good enough for you." With that, he headed into the guest room, muttering under his breath in German.

"Is that English?" Mustang asked Hawkeye shook her head. **(1)**

"No," She sighed. "I don't like this Roy, I didn't want him to come back and be like this." She said quietly.

"I don't think anybody did. I'm getting answers." He said determinedly.

"Be careful, I don't want to scare him away."

* * *

'_I dream of a better tomorrow; where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned.'

* * *

_

**(1) **Yes, I realise their main language wouldn't be called English due to the fact that England doesn't exist, but…oh well.


	3. Home Is Where Your Rump Rests

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Three  
**_Home is Where Your Rump Rests_

* * *

_'First you must decide, then you must follow through, it is the only way anything can be accomplished.' __  
__**Lacus Clyne, Gundam SEED**_

* * *

"Maybe they've already left for work, Winry?" The young woman at her side suggested. 

"But why would he ask me to meet him here? He said that one of his officers need some new automail. I don't know who would though." She said, frowning slightly. "I hope none of them have had an accident." She said, her forehead creasing in worry.

"Look, I know where they keep their spare key; let's look around for a note or something." The other girl suggested, disappearing around the side of the house and emerging a moment later with a shining silver key.

"Yes, Winry one, Mustang Zero." Winry said gleefully, trying to snatch the key.

"Oh no, you don't. I believe the score is, Uncle, Winry, Zero, Elicia Off the chart." She said, posing victoriously.

"One is hardly 'off the chart' Elicia, you'd be lucky if people'd notice that chart." Winry said sourly.

"You're just jealous."

"Just open the door." Winry ordered. Elicia grumbled in defeat and turned the key in the lock with a small 'click'. The both of them entered the house, looking around for signs of life.

"I don't think anyone's home." Elicia said, whispering for some reason.

"There's a note on the counter, c'mon lets look."

"How does he always know when I'm gonna break in?" Elicia asked, looking thoroughly perplexed, "There's always a note."

Winry picked up the note and read it quickly, her face getting more stunned by the minute.

"What is it?" Elicia asked concerned as Winry's eyes filled with tears, "What's wrong?" Winry dropped the note and ran down the Hall, in the direction of what Elicia understood to be the guest room. She picked up the note almost instantly after Winry had dropped it and quickly scanned it.

_Fullmetal,_

_Miss Rockbell is expected to drop by this morning sometime, though I doubt you'll be up. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Miss Rockbell or Elicia gets this first. Miss Rockbell, he's in the guest bedroom, hit him over the head with a wrench for me, just for old time's sake. Elicia, I thought I already gave you a key._

_Roy Mustang_

Elicia laughed and put the note down, soon after hearing a loud thump. She rushed into the guest bedroom, only to find Winry hugging the life out of someone sitting awkwardly on the floor. She was saying something, but Elicia couldn't decode it.

Finally Ed had had enough. "Ahhh, alright, I get the point, would you get off me, and I was sleeping." He complained.

"Oh god, is it really you Ed?" She asked tears of joy streaming down her face as she got up and helped him untangle himself from the sheets.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me." He said, smiling up at her and standing up himself.

"You forgot to hit him over the head with a wrench." Elicia pointed out. Ed quickly pulled her into a hug.

"I really missed you Winry." He said softly. "Don't spoil that by giving me a concussion." She grinned.

"You shouldn't have added that last part." She replied dryly.

They separated and he yawned loudly. "Who's the Random?" he asked, looking over at Elicia, as she studied him, as though trying to remember a familiar face.

"This is Elicia, surely you remember her." Ed gawked at Winry, then at Elicia.

"Wow, you sure have grown." He said, laughing.

"I remember you now." She said, "You're that short kid in dad's photos."

Ed glared lightly at her, but laughed all the same. "Yeah, I suppose so, that was a long time ago though." A couple of seconds later he was on the ground. "Hey! What was that for?" He asked Winry angrily.

"For going away and not writing, I told you I'd do that if you didn't come in for check up's regularly." She said, pocketing her faithful wrench.

"Ow," Ed groaned, rubbing his head, "That's a new wrench, no fair."

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to stay in Central a little longer Ed? Business isn't really booming back in Risembool, I can afford to take time off. Plus, Al's here." Winry watched him pack up the few possessions that he did own; his back was to her, but that didn't mean she didn't know he was rolling his eyes. 

"I've already told you," he said, in an exasperated tone. "Al and I had a fight." He sighed and snapped the suitcase shut. "I just want to go home." She smiled at him, happy to know that he considered Risembool to be his home, house or not. "Are you ready to go yet?" He asked, glancing at the clock on the wall behind her.

She didn't like the idea of the brothers fighting, especially after everything that had happened and all that the two had missed. "I could make your automail while I'm here," she plowed onwards, inwardly knowing how stubborn he was and how little her chances of getting him to change his mind were. "You could make up with Al. Please, Edward?" She asked, but he shook his head.

"It was a big fight, Winry. Apologies aren't going to cut it. He's going to want explanations, and I'm not going to give them." She sighed and hurriedly stood up as he left the room without waiting for her.

"Don't you want to catch up with everyone else though?" She asked, determined to be as stubborn as he was. "I mean, you've seen them all, what – once? That's hardly a reunion."

"Look," Ed said, humored, interrupting anything more she was going to add. "If you don't want me to come so badly, you could just say so, I can take a hint." She glared at him.

"You know it's not that. I just don't like it when you two fight." She said honestly. She closed the door to the house behind her, careful to lock it and jogged down the stairs to catch up with his fast pace. "And you haven't seen everyone yet. There are a lot of people in Central that I'd like to see too."

"Guilt trip's not gonna work, Winry." He said, and she sighed in frustration. Then grinned, somewhat evilly.

"Maybe I need to try other forms of _persuasion_." She threatened, with a glint in her eye.

"C'mon, hurry up." Ed said, ignoring her last threat and she huffed angrily. "There's a train in 5 minutes right? We have to catch that one."

"Why?" She asked, annoyed further at the slight whine that had accidentally leaked into her voice. "Why do you have to leave so quickly? There's another train in half-an hour. We can have brunch."

"Brunch…" Ed muttered under his breath before speaking up. "By now Elicia's reached HQ." He replied, a wicked grin spreading across his face, frightening the lady he was buying the tickets off. "Two to Risembool thanks." He said, tapping his foot impatiently while the old woman slowly counted the money. He quickly snatched up the tickets and boarded the train, dragging Winry in tow.

"All aboard! Stand back please!" The station officer yelled as the train slowly began its journey. Yet, over the noise of the mans loud voice, and the train, another voice, an angry voice could be heard.

"Fullmetal you sneaky bastard! Get back here, coward!" Ed poked his head out of the window and poked his tongue at the black head of hair that was angrily pushing through the bustling crowds.

"Sticks and stones, Mustang. Sticks and stones." He raised his left hand in a mock salute and grinned at the angry man. "Maybe next time, huh?" He sat back down in his seat, ignoring the looks he was receiving from the other passengers and the embarrassed face Winry was making.

"You're such a show-off." She murmured. He grinned and shrugged.

"It's just good to piss him off again. Smug bastard." She groaned again and he laughed. "He'll live; he only wanted me to stay so he could interrogate me. He acted all la-dee-da about it, and seemingly uncaring, but I know it's only because Hawkeye told him to." Winry rolled her eyes, but didn't turn away. "I want to be filled in," Ed demanded. "I hear you have a new apprentice, dragged someone else into your obsession huh?"

"You don't speak to woman like that." Winry said, crossing her arms in indignation.

"Show me one and I won't." Ed muttered under his breath. Winry merely glared at him.

"Chris," She began anyway. "Is Roses' son. He was always interested in mechanics, and so when Granny died, he took my place as the rookie. He'll be helping me make your arm and leg."

"Arm." Ed said shortly.

"That's what I said." Winry raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, just the arm. I don't need the leg."

"Oh," She replied cockily. "Tried to replace me did you?" She asked, reaching into her bag. Ed flinched.

"Hey, don't be so quick to judge. Look," He lifted the leg of his pants as he had done for Hawkeye and Winry looked at him suspiciously, poking the leg. He laughed lightly at her. "It's real. Al got my body back, didn't you hear?"

"Yeah, before you went and lost the whole damn thing." Winry replied. "Rose did try to explain it to me, but she didn't understand herself so the both of us ended up being more confused. Ms. Izumi and Wrath said something about your alchemy rules and that huge underground city and well, I thought it'd make more sense if I let my imagination come up with some farfetched idea and gave up trying to understand." She replied sheepishly. Ed laughed at her, but didn't elaborate.

"I suppose it's not important as to _how _it happened, just that it did."

"So it's real then?" She asked. "That huge city under Central? I always thought that was just a story you boys told me to scare me. I can't believe it really existed. Scheiska was going to take me down a while ago, but we never got around to it."

"We did too. But it exists alright." He said. "I already know all of this though; I want to hear about what you've been doing."

Well, Winry couldn't say she didn't enjoy the attention.

The train rode along the countryside, Ed looking out the windows and occasionally commenting as Winry informed him of what she had been doing for the past 15 years. She had gone to Rush Valley and lived with Paninya for a few years. And had then returned to Risembool and lived there for another 2 years, teaching Chris and helping out Pinako with the Automail shop.

Rose had gotten herself a job in Risembool, selling some fruits and vegetables at a stall she had set up, and had eventually moved out, back to the new work-in-progress Lior, but had soon moved back when the place hadn't been the same. Soon after Pinako died, Winry had packed up and moved to Central, sharing an apartment with Scheiska, and continued a small Automail business from there.

The only news she ever heard of Al, was the occasional letter, and the rumors. Of a new 'hero of the people' following in his older brothers footsteps, helping out people with Alchemy. "That wasn't really what he was trying to do, of course," Winry had said. "He was really looking for a way to reunite with you. I suppose he had just done what the two of you had before and run into problems along the way. Anyway, he met his wife on his travels in a small town up in Drachma. He traveled everywhere; I don't believe you had ever left the country together."

"Alchemy wasn't really the other countries strong points, though with the medical knowledge in Xing, we probably could have found something there, but" Ed replied, "We decided to search the corners of Amestris first."

She hadn't heard much of him after a letter informed her of his new girlfriend, and later on, they had showed up on her doorstep. Winry had gone traveling, going all throughout Amestris, to Xenotime, to see the incredible line of silken clothing they had developed, bringing the city riches once again, to Dublith to visit Izumi, Sig and Mason. She had of course been present for Mustang and Hawkeye's wedding. "Oh, they're so cute together." She said; Ed rolled his eyes.

Only 4 years had passed since she had returned to Risembool, staying permanently instead of just temporarily. But of course visiting Central for Al's wedding. She had re-opened the Automail store; Chris had not been able to do much on his own. The most interesting thing, according to her, that had happened since, was the phone call in which Mustang had mysteriously asked her to come and do some "'whirling of my wrench' I believe he said." She said dryly. Ed chuckled. "Oh, I never imagined it would be you. I…I can't believe it, but I think I kind of…gave up." She admitted, blushing in shame.

"Don't feel guilty, Winry." He said, "I hadn't given up, but I was damn close. And it was easier for me; all the evidence didn't say you were dead." He said. "In any case, I don't think I've ever been happier to see you again, or Al, even if we are fighting. I don't blame him, for saying what he did." He said quietly, looking out distantly at the rolling hills.

Winry frowned slightly in worry, but didn't say anything. "I'm happy you're back too Ed." She said looking out the window as the train came to a slow halt. "Here's our stop."

Ed couldn't have explained the feeling of seeing those rolling green hills, the huge mountain that shadowed the village, the blazing sun…

"I don't think I've ever been happier to just be _home._" He said, instead.

"I thought you didn't have a home?" Winry asked slyly, teasing him.

"Well you know what they say; Home is where your heart is." He laughed and walked down the steps onto the old dirt road. "They're not wrong when they say the country is cut off, this place hasn't changed at all." He said looking around.

"Well I'm sorry there aren't a whole lot of obnoxious people driving around in cars, honking their horns and rushing off to their boring office jobs." Winry said sarcastically, walking alongside him.

Ed blinked, "I never said it was a bad thing. Just…different. In a good way."

* * *

There had been much excitement when Ed had walked through the door of the little house on the hill; the pathway with the stones was a welcome sight. Rose had freaked out, and almost suffocated him, then insisted that she was going to cook a huge meal and invite everyone in the neighborhood to attend. 

However, that plan had quickly come to a standstill when Ed and Winry had talked her out of it, insisting instead, on a small dinner between friends. Basically, they ruled everyone out but Ed, Winry, Rose and Chris. Rose babbled on as she seasoned the to be roast chicken. "I always knew you'd come back," she said. "Or I would've gone and found you, and killed you myself." Ed was rather frightened at the joyful way she had said that. "I'm glad you kept your promise at any rate, even if it is rather late."

"Promise?" Ed questioned. Rose laughed.

"Well of course, you promised me you'd get out of that blasted chapel, and I've held you to it." Ed smiled at her. She was very different from the person he'd last seen. Her voice was back, and so was her spirit.

"Of course, I never break a promise, and that's a promise." The both of them laughed, and silence fell over the house, the only noises were that of Winry instructing Chris on different techniques in the construction of automail as she put together Ed's new arm, and the noise of Rose bustling about in the kitchen. "I think I'm gonna go for a walk, y'know, check out the neighborhood." Ed announced, getting up and leaving before waiting for Rose's answer.

He strolled down the dirt path, his feet unconsciously leading him until he arrived at the almost non-existent rubble of his old home. Most of the wood and remnants of old furniture had turned into mouldy wood and been taken over by soft green moss. Though Edward could remember the ruins of the house perfectly in his mind, if you hadn't seen it before, it would be difficult to distinguish certain features.

He carried on from his old childhood home, to the tree on the hill, Risembool's graveyard. He stared sadly at the grave of his mother, and the more recent one of his thought-as aunty. It was then he noticed a smaller grave, next to Pinako's and couldn't help but laugh a little at the name. _Den Rockbell_, "I suppose you're not quite the survivor Black-Hayate is aye Den?" Ed asked the gravestone quietly.

He walked around the place for a bit longer, reintroducing himself to everything, before stopping once again at the old house. He could tell Al had been there, a lot of the photos had been removed and a few things had been fixed with alchemy. Suddenly, Ed had a stroke of genius, and slowly began moving pieces of stronger wood and furniture and other useful things to a pile on the path. He towed it all back to the Rockbell house, much to Rose's annoyance.

"What're you doing with all that dirty, mouldy, old wood?" she asked, 'tsk'ing at him like a mother would scold a child.

"Oh, Relax." He said, lugging the last of it into the backyard. "I'll make something if you let me keep it?" he asked childishly. Rose rolled her eyes and carried on inside the house. And true to his word, over the next day and a half, while Winry slaved over his arm, he slaved over his mysterious creation. Rose would often poke her head out to see what he was doing, but he would shoo her off. Much to her annoyance, he invited Chris to help him, getting him to do the stuff he couldn't with one arm.

"Why don't you just make it with Alchemy?" Winry asked, looking at the odd bits and pieces of things here and there.

"You know what my teacher always use to say, 'if you can fix it yourself then do it; you can't always rely on Alchemy.' Sure if I wanted it done in a rush I would, but I've all the time in the world." He had answered. "Why hurry?"

"You always used to use alchemy for everything." Winry argued, "What's changed now?"

"I haven't used it in over 15 years," Ed replied, "I'm not even sure if I still can."

"You don't just lose a talent like that, Edward." Rose added.

"Well, they say 'use it or lose it' for a reason," Ed said. "If the opportunity, or need," he added, "should arise, then I'll probably start using it as often as I did before, but at this point and time, I'm going on strike." He said. Winry shook her head, and her and Rose exchanged glances. "What?" he asked.

"Men," The both of them said at the same time. "I'll never understand you, Ed." Winry said. "The Automail's almost done, Chris is just doing a few little things here and there, and I can do the surgery tomorrow." She said.

"Then tomorrow it is." Ed said firmly.

"Are you sure you want to? It'll hurt worse than it did before, the wound's not new." Winry said, furrowing her brow.

"What's a few days of pain, compared to a useable arm?" Ed said, "I'll never finish that damn thing with only one." He said, nodding his head in the direction of his creation outside. Winry rolled her eyes and went upstairs, the rest following shortly after.

* * *

"Damn, Fullmetal, running off like that, after I let him stay at my house and everything." Mustang muttered under his breath. It had only been a day since the younger man had left, and Mustang was still secretly fuming. 

"Aw, we all know you love him, boss." Havoc replied beside him, driving the sleek black car.

"Shutup and drive, Major." Mustang snapped, and Havoc hid a grin.

"What's the story with him anyway?" He asked conversationally, "Why'd he run off in the first place? Did you piss him off?" He asked suspiciously and Mustang glared at him.

"He's gone to Risembool to have himself another arm made, and he ran off to avoid the interrogation Riza forbade me to give him." Mustang answered. Only seconds after he had finished saying it though, he jolted forward in his seat as the car came to a sudden halt. As a reflex, he quickly placed an arm on the dashboard and squinted out at the dark road. "Havoc." He ordered half as a question as Havoc leaned on the horn, the blaring noise echoed in the dark streets.

"Some idiot just ran in front of the damn car." Havoc explained angrily. "I almost hit him." Obviously, his eyes were better than Mustang's one. "Great, now he's coming over here." He muttered.

"Stay here." Mustang ordered, opening the car door to meet the stranger. He growled in annoyance as Havoc's taller figure followed him out of the car. "I thought I told –"

"You are Roy Mustang?" The stranger asked, cutting him off, in a heavily accented voice that sounded somewhat familiar. The voice obviously belonged to a woman.

"Who's asking?" Mustang asked, aware that saying that was practically giving his identity away. Oh well, he had no fears about these people.

"Not important." The woman replied, having trouble with the language. "I look for Edward Elric. You know him, yes?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Havoc reaching for the gun underneath his cloak, and Mustang almost trod on his foot to signal him not to answer before he realised there was someone behind him as well.

"I don't know anybody with that name." He answered in his smooth voice. "Is there any other reason you stepped in front of our car?" He asked.

"Wrong answer." The woman replied. He tried to make out her face, but with the lack of street lamps in the back streets they were traveling through, and the hooded coat she was wearing he couldn't see anything. "You know Edward Elric." She said, and he still couldn't recognize her thick accent. "You sign his forms. Where is he?"

"Uh boss," Havoc hissed behind him. "Situation, little one." Mustang subtly slid on his gloves, annoyed at himself for taking them off in the first place.

"I don't want any trouble, miss. I suggest you leave now, before this gets messy." He said, in a threatening tone, taking his now gloved hands from his pockets, aware that the two of them were surrounded and outnumbered.

"_Seine Hände, die Handschuhe._" Another female voice said, light and quick. Mustang turned, finally recognizing the accent and language. It was the same one Edward had been using at his house only days before. In the same fluid movement, he snapped his fingers, and Havoc, recognizing the motion, made a run for the car, followed shortly by Mustang.

"Sir?" He asked.

"Leave them," Mustang answered, opening the door and leaving the group to stomp out the flames. He'd hardly had a chance to close the door when Havoc slammed a foot on the accelerator and Mustang was thrown forward into the dashboard, putting a hand out to soften the impact just in time. There was the sound of an echoing gunshot, and the back window shattered, barely missing himself and Havoc as the spun around the corner.

"Sorry, sir." Havoc said shortly, as Mustang sat upright in his seat. "Where to?"

"HQ, I have some calls to make." He replied, and with another swift turn of the wheel and a sense of co-ordination that only their team possessed, Havoc was back on track for the building they'd left only moments before. "We're paying a visit to Fullmetal."

* * *

'_If at first you don't succeed, leave no evidence that you tried.'

* * *

_


	4. House Visits

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Four**

**House Visits**

'_There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.'_

"Okay, thanks for the call ahead Colonel, no chance you'd tell me why…no…I see…well we just did the surgery yesterday I don't know if he'd…well, yes I suppose so…oh Mustang don't force it out of him…yes, yes you know you're welcome anytime, I'll have Rose set up the spare room…what d'you mean, how many are coming?.. The Whole unit! What's happened this time…okay, okay it'll be a squeeze but you're all welcome…okay, see you then bye…bye." Winry hung up the phone and sighed.

"What was that about?" Chris asked, yawning. It was late at night and he was just about to go to bed after the hectic last couple of days when the phone had rung.

"Mustang and his entire tribunal are coming for a visit." She said, sounding somewhat resigned.

"And you don't want them to why...?" he coaxed.

"It's not that I don't want them to, but I know they're coming here for Ed, and he's just had the surgery, it'll be a while before he's able to get up, let alone go through one of Mustang's interrogations, you know how he can be."

"But why's this Ed character so important?" Chris asked, sounding much like they were going to too much trouble for the man. "And why isthe Major General coming of all people?"

"Well, I suppose technically Ed's still one of the Colonel's subordinates. Yes, he used to be in the Military, one of their top…well I wouldn't say ranking, but definitely one of their most active State Alchemists." She said at the look on Chris's face from the word 'subordinate'.

"But you guys all hate the Military!" he exclaimed, "Apart from Mustang's group and that Armstrong fellow, you're all totally against them. I don't even think Mom trusts them that well."

"Hated, key word there, past tense. When I was growing up the military was full of corrupt bastards, and well you're mother has a damn good reason to hate them, but Ed, and Mustang are the good guys. They called Ed 'a hero of the people'" she said, somewhat proudly. "'a State Alchemist who isn't a mindless dog.' He was quite famous back when we were children." She said.

"You mean he's the hero of the people you keep telling me about?" Chris asked his eyes wide in disbelief. "I always thought they were old stories that you'd made up to entertain me as a kid."

"Ah, but to every myth there's some truth." She said. "Those stories are no Myths, Alphonse and Edward used to travel around the place all the time, getting into all sorts of trouble, did you know I made him one of the most beautiful pieces of automail, and he smashed it into tiny little pieces." She said angrily.

"Whoa, how'd he manage that?" Chris asked, fascinated. Winry smiled, he always got like that when they spoke of Ed and Al's adventures, even when he was a kid, and it amused her.

"Got into a damn fight again, they always use to fight; sometimes I think they just got people pissed so they'd have someone to spar with." She said, annoyed.

"Now Winry," Rose said from the doorway, having woken up from the two of them talking. "I happen to have been there first hand for some of their fights and they didn't intentionally pick out a few of them."

"Ah but they did with some." Winry argued.

"That one with Cornello was definitely their fault, but hey, I'd have to say I'm glad he did."

"Even though things turned out the way they did?" Winry asked quietly.

"I'd rather have my hopes shattered and wake up to reality, then to have gone fight a war because of a false belief. And it wasn't all bad." She said, ruffling Chris's hair, much to his annoyance 'Mom!' "I wouldn't have my son here, had thing's not turned out the way they had." She smiled, "And I'd prefer him to a talking bird."

* * *

"I've already told you plenty of times what happened, Riza, I really don't think that there is anymore that you can know, isn't that right Havoc?" Mustang asked as they all sat on the train, Hawkeye once again questioning him about what happened.

"Well actually, about what that girl said, why did you turn?" he asked, only just realizing that.

Mustang smirked. "Fullmetal was mumbling it at my house the other night, I'll bet a lot of money that he was muttering swearwords, but the dialect was similar if not the same. Not to mention that these people were asking for Edward Elric."

The train rolled past the countryside, its occupants not noticing the slight bumps as the wheels turned on the track. They'd been on the train for a while now, and Hawkeye began to recognise certain landmarks signaling their near arrival.

"What's wrong?" Mustang asked, once they were alone. The rest of them moving off to get lunch.

"Nothing, sir." She replied, turning her attention away from the window. "We should be arriving in Risembool soon sir, perhaps we should have waited until we had arrived for lunch."

"Eh, I sent them away so we could talk. Something's on your mind, you've been quiet since you heard we were stopped." Riza sighed slightly.

"I don't think you're taking this seriously enough, Roy. You weren't stopped, you were attacked. The documents you sign are protected by military procedures and protocols. I don't understand how these people were able to gain access to them if they're not from the Military."

"Actually I recognised the girl." Havoc said from behind her, "I was sent to ask what you want for lunch." He explained.

"You failed to mention this before, Havoc." Mustang pointed out.

"Well to tell you the truth I've been having a difficult time placing a name to the face. I know it was dark and everything, but I'm sure that the girl who spoke, well, she had an uncanny resemblance to Rose Thomas." He said, getting their orders and heading off again to give them some privacy.

"That still doesn't explain how they were able to get the documents; Rose has no power in Military affairs." Hawkeye said. A look of concern passed across Mustang's face.

"What's really wrong?" he asked, brushing his hand across her cheek. She leaned into his touch slightly.

"I've a really bad feeling about this, Roy." She said quietly. "Ever since Ed came back, there's something there nagging at the back of my mind. Telling me something's not right. Where's he been? And why was he hurt?" she asked, her eyes now closed.

"Hurt?" Mustang questioned, he hadn't noticed that.

"Well…I'm not sure." She replied, straightening up. "But Edward's never had a reason to keep secrets from us before. He hasn't seen Alphonse in over 15 years and he's ready to give up on sorting out this argument so quickly? That's not the Ed I remember." She stated.

"I don't think, that if any of us expected Ed to return, that we were ready for change. 'There is no way to make people like change; you can only make them feel less threatened by it.'" Mustang quoted. Riza sighed.

"I understand what you're saying, but I can't help feeling like something's off." She said.

"Me too," Mustang admitted. "Why do you think I'm so eager to get answers out of Fullmetal? He's one of those people who think that they're protecting someone by not burdening them with their problems."

"Like you?" she asked dryly. Mustang chuckled.

"Exactly, sometimes when you believe what you're doing is right, you can't see the chain reaction it's going to set off. I'd say we should let him tell us in his own time, but if he's anything like me, than he won't tell until it's absolutely necessary or he can't avoid it anymore." Mustang said. Hawkeye nodded in agreement and understanding.

"Just know your limits, Roy." She said quietly. "Don't push him too far."

* * *

"Chris!?" Winry called.

"What?" He yelled back.

"Could you make sure Edward doesn't try anything stupid, like getting up? Rose and I are going shopping in the town over to make sure we've got enough food for all our visitors, they should be here soon too, I think they caught a train late last night." She answered, basket in hand ready for some grocery shopping.

"Sure thing!" He called back, coming back up the path towards the house.

"Thanks Chris, if he wont listen to you, just jab him in his arm."

"Wont that hurt like hell?"

"It'll be his own fault for not listening to you." Winry huffed. "He's always been stubborn, so just be careful, don't let him trick you."

"Don't worry, Aunty Winry, I can look after the midget."

"Yeah, don't let him hear you say that either." She added, smiling evilly at the thought. "We'll be back in a couple of hours okay?" she called back over her shoulder once her and Rose had started down the path.

"I'll be fine." He waved his arm lazily at them and headed back into the house. However when he got there he saw a shadow in the doorway and jumped. "My god!" he called rather quieter than normal. "What the hell are you doing out of bed, you almost gave me a heart attack."

"I heard Winry," Ed said, his voice rather funny, "She worries too much, it's just my arm. What's this I hear about Mustang coming up?" he asked, plopping into the seat at the kitchen table. Chris looked at him warily before sitting down too and studying him.

"I dunno, he called late last night and said that all of them were coming down for a visit. You know, I don't think I've ever known someone to get up so quickly after having the surgery." He said, clearly impressed.

Ed chuckled. "What can I say, I like to push myself, and I'm not one to lie in a bed all day and be happy with it. Winry always scolded me for it when we were kids, if I kept trying to get up after she'd reattached my limbs, or if I was in the hospital and wanted to leave before the doctors said I could." He said.

"Limbs?" Chris questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well I use to have an Automail leg to, from here" he indicated on his left leg, "down was all automail. I didn't break that nearly as often as my arm though." He said with a laugh.

"Well why don't you need another leg now, surely you'd have grown?" he asked.

"Very inquisitive aren't we Mr. Thomas?" Ed asked, and Chris looked away as though scolded. "I never said it was a bad thing," he said, "My brother got my leg and arm back, and I returned his body. From the snippets of conversations I've overheard I gather that Winry and Rose tell you of our adventures like a bedtime story?" he asked.

"Yeah," Chris said, excited again, "That must have been so much fun, helping all those people and doing all those amazing things! I wish I could have an adventure like that."

"I don't know about that, I suppose they never really told you about why we went traveling in the first place, or what we'd done. I never actually told Winry or Rose about a lot of the stuff Al and I did." He said.

"You mean you've done even more?" Chris said.

"Well yeah, but those stories aren't really ones you'd be telling a kid before he fell asleep. They're not really they ones anybody would want to hear. I'm sure Winry and Rose edited the stories they told you to make them less adulterated, shall we say." Chris frowned slightly, and then noticed Ed's flushed cheeks.

"You shouldn't be out of bed; you'll make yourself more sick." He pressed a hand to his forehead and removed it quickly. "You've got a scorcher of a fever; get back into bed before Aunty Winry fires me for not doing what she said."

"Yeah, yeah alright." Ed grumbled after a couple more minutes' debate, "I suppose I am a bit tired. He stood up, and then swayed on the spot. Chris rushed forward and supported him, taking him into the room.

"Don't get up again, or I'll tell Aunty, it's extremely bad for your health if you get up so soon, you can be as tough as you want but your body can only do so much." But he was preaching to deaf ears. Ed had already passed out when he had been put on the bed. Chris scoffed. "Idiot," he mumbled, "Auntie's right he is stubborn."

He treated Ed's fever as best he could, but Rose and Winry were always the ones who took care of the patients after they got post-surgery sickness.

He turned when he heard a knock on the door. Thinking it was Mustang and his troops, he opened the door with a big welcoming grin. "You sure did get here quickly…" he stopped when he saw the unfamiliar people at the door. "Oh, sorry, I thought you were someone else. Can I help? Are you looking for some Automail?" he asked.

"_Nein, Nein, _I am looking for Edward Elric." The woman said her voice rather husky, and her English rusty. Chris hesitated before answering.

"I'm afraid he's not here at the moment, he's over at the next village over, staying at the Hawshaw's meat store." He lied, if they really were honest people, then they'd understand the honest _mistake_ he's made, and the detour to another town wouldn't be a problem. "Thank-you." The woman said, and turned to go, signaling to the people following her to turn back to the train station. She yelled something in another language, and they headed out.

Hardly any spared him a second glance, but the one other cloaked person who had their hood down, stared at him. Chris had to stop himself from calling out. She could have been his Mom's twin. He smiled and waved and turned back into the house, feeling a little out of breath and nervous. "Paranoid," he mumbled to himself, "You're just hungry; stomach's being funny 'cause of that." He said, trying to convince himself.

He almost jumped when half an hour later there was another knock at the door. _They can't have gone there and come back already, _he thought,_ could they…_ He opened the door and almost sighed in relief when he saw the guests that he had been expecting earlier, instead of the strange foreigners. "You almost gave me a damn heart attack," he admitted, opening the door wider to allow them entry.

"I doubt your mother would put up with you using that language." Hawkeye said, stepping into the house after Mustang. "Where is she anyway?"

"Her and Aunt Winry went shopping so we could feed you lot." He answered, closing the door and fetching some seats from outside for the table. The group all said their 'hi's and sat down, Fuery, Falman and Breda looking like they'd been pulled out of a nice sleep to come down here. "Must say, I got a bit of a fright this morning, this strange group came to the door looking for Ed." Immediately the atmosphere in the room changed. Chris looked at them in confusion, "What?" he asked.

"What did you do?" Mustang asked. Chris blushed.

"Well I don't know why but they kind of scared me so I sent them on a wild goose chase to some made up family in a made up business at the village Aunty and Mom and shopping at." He admitted sheepishly. Mustang smirked.

"Well, that was a stroke of luck. Where is Fullmetal anyway?" he asked.

"In the room over there," he indicated with his head. "I doubt he'll be up for a while, he tried to get up this morning and made it to the table before he'd already overworked his body. He's a bit of an idiot." The group laughed at Chris's statement.

"He's one of the most intelligent people I've ever met." Breda said. "Unless you're talking about his health, in which case he's completely ignorant and doesn't believe that trained and qualified doctors know anything." The group laughed again. Even Hawkeye smiled slightly.

"I heard that!" Ed yelled from the room over. "And I'm not ignorant about my health; I just don't think it should stop me!"

"And that's why you're lying in the bed with a horrible fever right Boss?" Havoc replied.

"Shuddup!" Ed yelled back. "What are you lot doing here anyway?" he asked. "And would you move in here so I can stop yelling?"

"Why don't you come join us in here Fullmetal?" Mustang replied, "It's much more convenient for us."

"Do you want a dent in your head from a wrench Mustang?" Ed replied, "If so then continue to tell me to get up, I'm sure Winry would have a conflicting viewpoint."

Mustang twitched in annoyance and headed into the room where Ed was staying, ordering the rest of them to stay outside, and closing the door behind him. "So how long did you think you could avoid interrogation by leaving, Elric?" he questioned the rather sick looking man on one of the hospital beds in the room.

"Well, I must say I _was _expecting you to wait until the post-surgery sickness had passed, but no, no chance of that." Ed said, trying to sit up. "I didn't know you had missed me so much Mustang." He teased, giving up and instead, propping his head up further on the pillow.

"Very clever, Fullmetal, but I probably wouldn't have bothered, had certain, _events,_ not played out the way they had." Ed frowned.

"Why are you here?" He asked, looking at Mustang for some kind of clue. "What's happened now?"

Mustang searched Ed's face for a moment. The dark circles under his eyes, suggesting he hadn't been sleeping much lately, he had noticed that in central, the way his hair didn't have quite the life it used to, and the way his face had aged over the years. True, he wasn't looking quite as handsome as he might have when he was Colonel, and he might be feeling his years from time to time, but Ed looked just plain tired.

'_My safety's not the only one in jeopardy if I were to tell you what I've been doing for the past 15 years!'_ Ed's voice from the argument they had had at his house drifted into his mind.

He sighed, "Never mind, maybe when you're better." He decided not to worry Ed with his problems at that point and time. Hawkeye was right; if he started pushing him now, after his 15 year absence, they'd never get answers. For the time being, he had to be patient.

Surprisingly, Ed didn't push either. He was quite content to stay in the dark. Mustang shook his head, and left the room, letting the others catch up with Ed. They realised that Mustang hadn't said anything, and didn't open their mouths either.

Winry and Rose joined them later that evening and Rose went straight away to the kitchen to cook a roast for the lot of them, Hawkeye helping her. While the boys sat outside, sharing jokes, making bets, and, in Havoc's case, smoking. Winry silently slipped into Ed's room, and saw him lying awake staring at the ceiling.

"Thanks for not getting up, I'm surprised at you." She said, once he turned to look at her. He smiled lopsidedly.

"Don't be, I got up earlier today, just after you and Rose left." Winry scowled. "Don't worry; it was only for about 5 minutes before Chris ordered me back to bed." He said. She went up and felt his forehead.

"Your fever's down, you should be able to get out of bed tomorrow, just don't overwork your body or anything. It's still trying to get rid of those drugs and recuperate from the blood loss." She said. He nodded.

"Yeah, yeah I know." He said. They sat in silence for a while, hearing the occasional cry of annoyance from the gang outside, followed normally by a group of loud cheers. "You know why they're here?" Ed asked Winry.

"No," she replied, "I asked when he called last night, but I suppose I didn't really expect an answer."

Ed nodded in agreement. "I was quite surprised by the fact that Mustang left me alone. I was expecting some huge interrogation like back at his house." He wondered aloud.

"Maybe he's just happy you're back. I know I am," she said, "And…I know Alphonse is."

Ed laughed a little. "I know what you're trying to do Winry, and trust me; I don't want to fight with him, especially after not seeing him for so long. But, if that's what it takes to keep him uninvolved, then I'll do it." He turned to look at her, "I never was good at keeping secrets from him."

She sighed. "Is this what this is about? You don't want to get him involved? I'm not sure that he realises that those are your intentions, Ed. He'll probably come here to apologize and your huge plan fails."

"Well, I suppose it's not a very well thought out plan." He turned to her curiously. "You're not going to ask what I'm not getting him involved in?" he questioned.

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Are you going to tell me if I do?" she smiled evilly at the look that passed his face. "I know you too well Edward," she boasted, "and I don't care anyway. I said it before, I'm just glad you're back."

"Me too," he said, looking back at the roof once more. "You know, you ought to paint something interesting on this roof, I'm sure a lot of people would get sick of staring at the white, time after time." He suggested. Winry laughed.

"I'll think about it." Ed looked over at her as she laughed, until she got quite self-conscious.

"What?" she questioned. He sat up.

"You know…for a long time…when we were kids too…I…well…" he started, not looking at her, and blushing slightly.

"What?" she questioned, though in a different tone to before. She moved closer.

"Well…I always…kinda sorta…really liked you." He said at last.

She sighed. "Well I knew that much Ed." She said annoyed.

"No…I mean…_like_ liked you." He said. Now blushing furiously.

"Oh," she said quietly, blushing too. "Well, I kinda sorta _like _liked you too. As well as Al."

"Winry!" Ed exclaimed, "Don't tell me that!"

"I'm sorry," she said indignantly. "We're all adults' right? And it's not like Al is here right now, I'm talking to you." She said.

"Still! I don't think I want to know how you thought of my little brother after I'm embarrassing myself by admitting how I feel –" he was cut off, by Winry lips meeting his own. _Damn, _he thought, _I was supposed to do that. _But he kissed her back all the same. There was a knock on the door, which the both of them ignored, and Fuery stepped into the room.

"Hey, uh Ed, I was wondering –" he let out a small 'oh' of surprise and hastily exited the room, once he had noticed what was going on. He stepped back out onto the veranda, his face horribly red.

"So what's he betting?" Havoc asked. "And why are you all red?"

"Uh…he's kind of…preoccupied at the moment." Fuery replied quickly sitting down on the stairs as he had been.

"Preoccupied, how?" Havoc asked making Fuery blush even more.

"Well…Winry's in there you see…" he didn't need to finish, there was a huge outbreak of laughter from all of them. Hawkeye poked her head out the window.

"Would you keep it down?" She said annoyed, "Rose and I are trying to talk."

"Hey –hey," Breda said, wiping his eye, "Tell me Winry's in there so I know Fuery's not pulling my leg." He said. Hawkeye looked at him curiously.

"No. She went to talk to Ed." They laughed even harder at this. "What?" she questioned.

"I don't think they're talking." Falman replied. "Okay, okay, let's calm down." He said sensibly. "Now, how long do you think they'll stay in there making out?" Hawkeye sighed irritably and went back into the kitchen as the boys began making their bets.

"10 Minutes!"

"No way! 15!" She slammed the window shut, effectively muffling their voices.

"Boys," she muttered, turning back to Rose. "They'll be in there for at least half-an-hour. Those two have liked each other since they were kids." Rose laughed; sometimes Hawkeye was as bad as the boys.

"I think you need some more females in your unit, Riza." She suggested.

"You don't need to say that twice." She replied with a small grin.

* * *

'_When I have a kid, I'm gonna put him in one of those twin strollers, and run around the mall looking frantic.'

* * *

_

**Tis Chapter Four. Wooh House is on tonight, season finale. This chapter's longer than all the rest…how did that happen? Oh well, thanks to all of you who continue to review. :) And sorry Harryswoman for not replying to your review, the thingy was being stupid and wouldn't let me.**


	5. Train Troubles

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Five**

**Train Troubles**

'_If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad;_

_If it makes you happy, then why the hell are you so sad?'_

_- Sheryl Crow, If it makes you happy_

"Don't worry, Winry." Ed said to the distressed blonde in front of him. "It's just a bit of paperwork, my arm's fine, and I'll be back before you know it."

"Can't I come?" she asked, rushing around and picking up forgotten belongings for the party standing at the door, ready to leave, back to Central.

"Just stay here, alright? If I need you I'll call."

"You just got back; do you really have to leave?" She asked, as the others set off down the dirt road, waving their goodbyes.

"He's not going anywhere, Winry. I'll make sure the Major General doesn't keep him too long." Hawkeye assured her, brushing her gun meaningfully. Ed eyed her warily.

"Oh, I suppose there's not much I can do about it anyway." She resigned, handing over his light suitcase. "Just promise me you'll come back." Ed flashed a smile her way.

"Of course, I'm too much of a country boy to live in those big cities anyway." He said, before kissing her and setting off down the road. "I'm coming, you're so impatient!" he yelled at Mustang. Winry sighed and went back into the house once Hawkeye had gone. She looked out into the backyard, and noticed the pieces of wood and other materials Ed had brought home.

"Yeah, that'd be right, leave a huge mess." She muttered under her breath, but left the pile untouched anyway

"So why _am _I returning to Central?" Ed asked, once they had boarded the train.

"Well, you're the Fullmetal Alchemist, the hero of the people. You've got to let people know that you're back, right?" Mustang replied.

"Since when have you pulled me all the way from something I was doing, for media purposes?" Ed asked, not convinced. And he was right in his suspicions. Mustang had not yet enlightened him for the reason behind his house call, and Ed was getting more annoyed and curious with the passing time.

The rest of the team, aside from Hawkeye, was politely allowing them some privacy, although curious about why Ed wasn't told about their mysterious visitors as well, they were staying out of it. "Last time I interfered I had to dress up as a woman." Fuery had said, to which the group had hid smiles. **(1)**

Mustang didn't answer Ed's question, opting instead to pretend he hadn't heard. "I don't like this Mustang." Ed growled, "It's not like it's uncommon for you to ignore a question I ask, but the house visit? And why are you dragging me all the way back to Central?"

"I didn't drag you Fullmetal; I was under the impression that you had walked to the train station yourself." Mustang replied casually.

"I didn't mean it literally, bastard. Stop avoiding the questions." Ed said.

"I've told you why you are returning to Central." Mustang replied, "We need to make people realise that you are no longer just a legend. There are things that need to be sorted out. People don't just disappear for 15 years, and then come back and expect everything to be the way it was when they left."

"I don't expect things to be the same!" Ed said, loud enough for the others to overhear. "But that's not a legitimate reason! I can do those things from Risembool; I don't want to become the famous 'Fullmetal Alchemist' again!"

"That's not really something you can control, _Fullmetal. _You made a choice when you were a child, and that choice remains with you now. It's only for a few weeks, stop getting so worked up." Mustang said disinterestedly.

"Stop treating me like a child!" Ed said, the others had stopped talking and despite their decision to but out were now listening in. As well as half of the other passengers on the train. "And start telling me what the hell is going on!"

"I've never treated you like a child, Fullmetal." Mustang replied calmly. "Because I've never known you to be one, sometimes your actions may be rash, and your decisions may not be entirely logical. But they are not childish. I have never treated you as anything but an equal. All I ask is for the same in return."

"Like hell you haven't!" Ed replied heatedly, getting more annoyed with the placid expression on the infuriating mans face. "I've always been the one who was sent out to do your work."

"You joined the Military, Elric; you are not exempt from their duties."

"Oh, give me a break." Ed muttered under his breath. "What is this really about, Mustang?" he asked.

Mustang turned his one eye, so that it locked with Ed's fierce golden ones. "I'm keeping you in the dark Fullmetal, _shall we see how you like it, huh?_" he asked mockingly.

Ed began to laugh. "Ha, this is what this is all about, alright Mustang; I'll play your stupid little game. You're not getting answers out of me, and I can put up with not getting answers from you." He said, crossing his arms and turning to look out the window. His eyes darted back and forward as he focused on different objects that were passing.

"Do you really want to keep it from us that bad, sir?" Hawkeye asked.

"The less you know the better." He said and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Mustang asked when he began to move.

"Another carriage, you're annoying me." He said, and walked towards the door of one of the carriage's adjoining them. The door shut behind him, locking out the chilly wind.

"Havoc," Mustang ordered, but Havoc was already on his feet.

"On it," he called back and followed Ed into the other carriage. "Problem, Boss?" he questioned Ed, sitting opposite him.

"Well there is now," Ed answered grumpily.

"Y'know, Mustang's just looking out for you." He said conversationally.

"He could do it in a less nosy way."

"We all want to know where you've been, boss. It's been different without you there, a lot quieter." Ed glared at him, but only half-heartedly. "Maybe we may not be hassling you, but Mustang's got the right idea, we all know you're not gonna open up because you want to."

"Maybe I don't need to open up; maybe this is all in _your _head." Ed replied.

"And Maybe it's not, we could go 'what if' all day, but your hiding something, and it's big, because I can't remember a time when you've kept stuff from us."

"That would be because I didn't tell you." He replied, rolling his eyes. "And it's not like you guys are being totally honest with me, you made the trip down here for a specific reason, not so you could bring me back to go to a photo shoot."

Havoc grinned slightly. "Well if I told you why we came, would you tell me where you've been?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Not even a country name?" Ed laughed.

"Yeah alright, I've give you a couple of country names." He said. "But, you first." He bargained.

"Alright then, sounds fair, the reason we came here, is because a group of people stopped us, looking for you."

"Stopped how?" Ed asked suspiciously.

"Stopped as in, walked in front of the car, and surrounded us. We probably wouldn't have bothered coming here, but the people were foreign, spoke a funny language, the Major General said he recalled you speaking in the same one. So lo and behold, here we are."

Ed looked thoughtful. "Who was stopped?" he asked.

"Me and Mustang."

"Mustang and I," Ed corrected, "What did the people look like?"

"Well I didn't see their faces, they were wearing cloaks." Ed frowned. "But one of them looked like Rose; she didn't really belong with the creepy cloaked people."

"Damn." He swore. "Brown hair, brown eyes, really tanned?" he asked, and Havoc nodded.

"You know 'em?"

"What did they say?" Ed asked, ignoring Havoc's question, "You said they said something in a 'funny language' what was it?"

"Uh…I don't know if I can remember it, Mustang wrote it down, it was uh…_ Seine… _uh…_ Hände, die Handschuhe._ Yeah that's it." He said, looking at Ed, who wore a puzzled expression. **(2)**

"But that doesn't make sense." He said.

"You know what it means?" Havoc asked.

"_His hands, the gloves._" Ed relayed. "Unless she was talking about Mustang. Was she touching either of you?"

"Uh…she brushed my arm, barely." He said, confused. "So you do know them? Should we be so paranoid, because they came to the Rockbells' too?"

"They did?!" Ed exclaimed. "When?"

"Uh…about 20 minutes before we got there, that's what Chris said; he sent them away on a false story." He laughed. "Funny kid that one is."

Ed sighed, "Well I guess there's nothing I can really do."

"Hey, hey, hey, we had a deal, country names." Havoc said when Ed didn't say anymore.

"Right, uh…Germany, London…actually that's England isn't it? Romania, France, Austria…I went to a lot of others, but I can't remember their names right now, it was mainly around Europe." He replied lazily.

"What!?" Havoc said "I've never heard of those places, you're just putting syllables together and calling it a country. Germany? France?" Ed opened an eye and stared at him with a bored expression.

"You asked for names, I never said they'd make sense to you." He replied. "D'you have any water? I'm thirsty."

Havoc sighed and shook his head. "They should be selling some in the food car, get me some would you?" he asked, as Ed got up and headed to the mentioned cart. "And hey! Don't run off, Mustang'll fry my ass."

"While it is tempting…" Ed replied, "I need to look up some stuff at Central anyway." He headed off into the other carriage. "They're so bloody paranoid." He muttered to himself as he walked up to the food cart. "Uh, yeah could I have two bottles of water thanks?" He asked, and then thanked her as she passed them to him.

"Um, excuse me?" a timid voice asked Ed. He turned around; there was a girl, who seemed to be having quite a lot of trouble with her baby. "Could you…if it's not too much trouble, could you please just hold her for a second, she's giving me a bit of trouble and I need to get her bottle?" she asked nervously.

"Sure," Ed said, smiling kindly, and took the baby into his arms, setting down the drinks and moving away to give the girl room. "Is she yours?" he asked.

"Oh no," the girl said, blushing. "She's my baby sister, my parents are in the other carriage, talking to some military officials about something, and I'm just giving them some space." She replied.

"Military officials?" he questioned. "On what end of the train?"

"Um, down there." She pointed with the empty bottle, to the opposite direction Ed had come from. "Why?" she asked hesitantly.

"Oh, no reason really, there's a group down the other end is all." He replied, "I'm supposed to be traveling with them but they were annoying me, so I left." He made faces at the baby in his arms. Someone lined up for the food trolley behind him, almost bumping him, so he moved again.

"Why were you traveling with them?" she asked, filling up the bottle with milk from a thermos. Ed made a face.

"I'm a State Alchemist. I think." He said. She giggled.

"You think?" she asked, beginning to get more confident with him.

"Well, I haven't been here for 15 years or so, so I don't know if they renewed my license or not. That's what this whole trip is about."

"So can you use alchemy? I've been trying to learn, but I can't find a teacher." She said sadly.

"I'm not sure." He said, frowning slightly. "I couldn't use it where I was, and I don't know if I'd be able to now." He looked at his hands dismally. "Could I try, heating up the bottle I mean?" he asked, after she had taken the baby into her arms.

"Sure." She said, surprised. "It's already kind of warm." He took it a splashed a bit on his wrist.

"Ah, it's just the right temperature; I'll find something else to test it on." He replied, turning and picking up his two waters, not noticing that they weren't where he'd left them. "I guess I'll see you, you getting off at Central?" he asked, and she nodded, blushing again. "Who knows, maybe we'll see each other around. Hey, what's your name?" he asked just when she was about to go into the other carriage.

"Oh, it's Sophia." she replied. A funny look passed across his face but it was gone an instant later. "Sophia Brosh."

"Ed Elric." He replied. "Bye."

He took a huge gulp of his water, and handed the other to Havoc. "Have you taken quite long enough Boss, I was about to get up and look for you." He said opening his drink.

"Hey I was helping a lady in distress." He replied. "Not like that." He said when Havoc winked at him. "You're worse than Mustang."

"The girls actually _go _for Mustang though, course a few of them have regretted it since he was married." Havoc replied sullenly, and then said the last part with childish glee. Ed rolled his eyes.

"I've been meaning to ask, they haven't had kids?" he asked stretching himself out on the seat.

"They were going to." Havoc answered. And Ed looked at him curiously. "There was an…accident, and Hawkeye miscarried." He said. Ed almost instantly regretted asking, but was glad that he hadn't said anything to the couple. "They've been cautious since then, but I think she's pregnant again. I'm hoping anyway or I'm gonna be broke for a while."

"She's getting a belly." Ed said mischievously, "Well we all know what they've been doing on their nights off." Havoc chocked on his water, and then cracked up laughing.

"Don't let Hawkeye hear you say that, you'll have more holes in you then you 'ought to." He said after calming down a bit.

"Eh, I'll think about it." He opened one eye and stared lazily up at Havoc, "Hey did Sergeant Brosh ever get married?"

Havoc laughed again. "Yeah to Maria Ross, if it weren't for them being assigned to protect you it may never have happened." He said.

"I think I just met their kids." He replied yawning. "Who knows…" he continued lazily, before drifting off to sleep. Havoc shook his head. _He could fall asleep anywhere _he thought.

* * *

"You sure he said he was Edward Elric?" The dark-haired woman asked the girl who was walking beside her going at quite a fast pace.

"I'm sure Mom," she replied, "He said he was Ed Elric, and that he was a state alchemist, why?" she asked.

"Did he have blond hair?" the man asked, holding the baby.

"Yeah, and gold eyes, they were cool." She replied. "Why?"

"It's got to be Ed, unless Alphonse was using his name, but his hair's a different colour." He replied, talking to his wife.

"Why!?" Sophia asked impatiently. The entered the carriage Ed had been sleeping in and instead found a sleeping Havoc.

Denny went over to see if he would wake up, while Maria continued into the carriage Mustang and his group were occupying. "Lieutenant Ross." Hawkeye exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"We were on holiday in East City," she explained. "Sophia said she's seen Ed, is he really back?" she asked hopefully. Mustang narrowed his eyes.

"He's supposed to be in that carriage you just came from with Havoc." He said, annoyance showing in his voice.

"Well…uh Havoc's asleep." She said.

"What!" Mustang exclaimed standing up. "He was supposed to be making sure Fullmetal didn't run. For...Pete's…sake." he said when he noticed the girl standing there.

"I've told you before not to cuss, sir." Hawkeye said.

"I didn't." he replied shortly stepping into the other carriage to wear Brosh was still trying to wake up Havoc.

"I don't think he's asleep, sir." He said nervously, after getting the half-full bottle of water and splashing him in the face, still not getting a response.

"Havoc." Mustang said. "Havoc? Wake up or I'll fry you." He threatened holding out his hand.

"I don't think that's going to work, sir. Perhaps he need's a doctor." Brosh suggested.

"Fuery, Falman." Mustang ordered. "Look after Havoc."

"What's wrong with him?" Falman asked.

"I don't know. Breda."

"Where's Ed?" Breda asked.

"There haven't been any stops since I talked to him." Sophia piped up. "He's got to still be on the train."

"Search the train." Mustang ordered. "The next stop is Central. Colonel, go to the communications room and order up a search party, no more than three, we don't want to cause panic; Fullmetal's probably just being stupid again."

"And call a doctor." Fuery added. "Something's really wrong here; I don't think Ed did this." Havoc was draped over his and Falman's shoulders, still unconscious, and not looking too good.

"What on earth happened here, they were right next to our carriage?! I am barbequing me some shrimp when I find that damn midget." He said angrily.

* * *

'_I can only please one person per day. Today's not your day. Tomorrow's not looking good, either.'

* * *

_

**(1) **I love that Episode, and Fuery has to dress up as Hawkeye, lol.

**(2) **It's funny how he can recall the words exactly, but then I suppose it would be an inconvenience to my story if he couldn't.

**Well, I'm back from my mini-holiday, got sunburnt, didn't eat anything healthy for the duration of the weekend etc., etc. So here is chapter 5, a day later than normal, but you'll live. I've got to go to school tomorrow so I best go and prepare my Home Ec. Stuff so that I can sleep in tomorrow. **

**DoThePieFace**


	6. It's Not Rocket Science

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Six**

**It's Not Rocket Science**

'_The optimist says 'we live in the best of all possible worlds' _

_And the pessimist fears this is true.'_

_- Anonymous_

"How's the search party going?" Mustang asked.

"Not very well, sir. They haven't found anything. They must've disappeared into the crowd, it's not like we had a description of their faces. Also the train's set off again; there was no sign of Ed anywhere." Second Lieutenant Fuery relayed.

Mustang sighed. After interviewing the other passengers on the train, they had come to the discovery that both Havoc _and _Ed had 'fallen asleep'; though with Ed it could very well be true. After that, a group had come, looked like they knew the two of them, and somehow taken off with Ed.

They were in the office again, the 6 desks in the middle and Mustang's at the front. After getting off the train, they had stopped all movement on it, from loading to getting off, but the group seemed to have beaten them to it, and nobody could find any sign of them anywhere. Falman had taken Havoc to the hospital.

"What's the news from the Hospital?" He asked, not missing a beat.

"They're…unsure." Fuery replied hesitantly.

"Unsure, how?" he growled.

"They've confirmed that he was poisoned, but it's not anything they recognise. They called in a doctor who specialises in toxins and drugs, but he's not expected to reach Central until tomorrow some time."

"What time."

"Well not until late, the trains were held up because we had to stop the one we were on from leaving." He replied. "They don't think that he's going to get any worse, but they can't say because no one's ever been treated for this before."

"Any news of Fullmetal? Anything, a complaint about yelling shrimps, the zoo saying they think they lost their little yellow haired monkey?" he asked, quite fed up with all the bad news.

"No, sir." Fuery replied, "Nothing at all that could be Ed or anything relating to him."

"Call up the newspapers. Get it on the front page. And tell them to have a spare article. I don't want to have to do it unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Get what on the front covers sir?" he asked uncertainly.

"I don't know _The Fullmetal Alchemist, from legend to life and back again. _Just make sure they know he's back and that he's missing. If he's poisoned as well, then he needs medical treatment. We need to find him as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir." Fuery replied, saluting and walking out of the room, he stopped at the door. "Sir..?" he asked hesitantly.

"What is it Fuery?" Mustang asked, already scrawling furiously at the paperwork caused by this latest fiasco.

"Should I inform Alphonse?" he asked. Mustang stopped writing, "I know they're fighting, but if Havoc gets worse…"

"Yes, good idea, don't want him reading that in the morning. Get Scheiska to go and speak with him." Fuery nodded and exited the room, almost bumping into Falman.

"What's going on? I thought you were at the hospital?" Fuery asked. "Is it Havoc?"

Falman nodded grimly. "He's not getting better, whatever this thing is it's attacking his nervous system, they've got him on a ventilator. I've got to go tell Mustang."

"Yeah, alright." Fuery said quietly, but he had already headed into the room, and a moment later the two of them rushed out again.

"Cancel the spare article detail, Fuery." Mustang said, and he could've sworn he heard Mustang say quietly. "I'm not about to have a sub-ordinate die on me." Before he rushed off down the hall. "And go and pick up that specialist from whatever town he's in, it'll be quicker than a train!"

* * *

_Knock, knock, knock_

Al looked up from the object he had been working on, and looked towards the direction of the front door. The person knocked again, and he stood up, opening it just as Scheiska was about to knock again.

"Give me some time to get to the door Scheiska." He joked.

"Sorry, I'm just a little nervous; Fuery's just dumped a hell of a lot on me." His face went from joking to concern.

"What's happened?" he asked, opening the door wider. "Come in."

"I don't know the whole story, but Havoc's in the hospital, and Fuery was almost having a panic attack. Something about driving all the way down to somewhere as well as having to do a whole lot of other things, the whole unit's been swamped with work. All because of your brother." She said, sighing.

"Oh no," Al said, a sinking feeling in his stomach. "What's happened?" He repeated.

"Well, they were coming back from Risembool, after Ed had his automail attached,"

"Automail, I thought Rose said that he didn't need it anymore?" Al said, still completely in the dark when it came to the four years they had spent together.

"Well, that's what we all thought, but when he came back his arm was a fake, and it didn't move, so he went and got a new automail arm." Scheiska said thanking him for the coffee he handed over. "They had some trouble on the train and Maria, you know Maria Ross?" she asked.

"Yeah, I know her."

"Well her daughter met him on the train, and told Lieutenant Ross. So she of course, along with Sergeant Brosh, wanted to see him. When they got down to the carriage him and Havoc were in, Havoc was unconscious and Ed was nowhere to be found, Mustang stopped the whole train. They've only just got started again. There's absolute chaos down at HQ, Havoc's conditions been worsening, Fuery had to drive down and pick up the specialist doctor because now the trains are late." She took a huge gulp of the coffee.

"Ed's missing?" Al asked quietly. "Again?"

Scheiska looked at him worriedly. "Don't worry Al, they'll find him. They're putting a huge article in the newspaper for tomorrow morning; they've got heaps of people on it."

"He's got the same thing as Havoc right?" he asked.

Scheiska looked down. "How did you…" she asked.

"He wouldn't leave Havoc there if he was in trouble, and I doubt he'd be going anywhere sometime soon, he just got back." Al said. They both sat in silence for a while, before Alphonse spoke again. "The last thing I said to him was 'A lot can change in 15 years'. What if he gets really sick, and the last time I talked to him we had a huge argument. What if we never find him? What if…what if he dies?" Al asked.

"Calm down, Al." Scheiska said, "He's coming back, he's going to be fine. You know Ed, he's a fighter, when has a stupid argument between the two of you ever stopped him? If you want you can come back to HQ and see if they get any news. Or the hospital, you'd be sure to get it there. We don't even know if it was just Havoc that was poisoned or not." She said in a soothing voice.

Al shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm being stupid. I'll wait here, just could you call me as soon as they hear something, I'll probably come over tomorrow, but Michelle's expecting me home." About half an hour later he was waving her goodbye. "I'll come by tomorrow, if you hear anything…"

"Of course, maybe we can get together on better circumstances soon, huh? I've haven't talked with you in a while."

"Sure thing Scheiska, take care of yourself." He said.

"You too." She replied. "Say hi to Chelle for me okay?" He closed the door once she had disappeared around the corner.

"What have you gone and done now Ed?" he asked the empty air around him. He sighed, scribbled a fast note and stuck it on the fridge, grabbed his coat and stepped out into the cool evening air.

* * *

Ed was vaguely aware that he was awake, but he was quite content to keep his eyes closed, and pretend he was still asleep. Just relax and listen to the noise of the train tracks beneath him. His eyes shot open, where were the train tracks, and why wasn't he swaying slightly with the train?

He couldn't see anything; he held out his hand in front of his face and couldn't even see the outline of it. He tried to call out, but his voice wasn't working, he clutched at his throat, before realizing that wasn't going to help. _Where am I? _He thought looking for anything in the pitch black surrounding. He tried calling out again, but got no response.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach; it felt like his ribs were broken. It was then he noticed other pains in his body, his back, his face, his ankle felt like it was sprained, and he had an strong voice telling him not to move his automail. He reached up and felt his forehead, just under his hair but drew back quickly when it sent a sharp pain shooting through his head. He could feel something wet and sticky on his hands.

_What's going on? What happened? Wasn't I on the train with Havoc?_ He thought still looking wildly around him, _where's Havoc?_ He shivered, he was freezing, and he fell to his knees, and landed in glowing white snow. _Snow? How long has it been here? _He was getting colder and colder as time went by, still no one showed up, nothing moved, the trees swayed gently in the wind.

_Trees? What the hell?_ He tried calling out again. "Lieutenant?! Havoc?" but still no noise escaped his lips. _Am I dreaming? That's got to be it, but then…you can't feel pain in dreams._

"Al…Al..?" the name came out as a harsh whisper, but it was noise nonetheless. The whisper echoed around him, in the vast empty space, and he noticed the full moon shining over him._ That wasn't all there before, was it? Maybe I was temporarily blind or something._ He thought rationally, standing up, still shivering horribly.

"…Hello..?" a harsh whisper once again. And suddenly voices answered the echo.

"_Hey isn't this that guy from the newspaper, he doesn't look too good. Quick, call the hospital."_

"No, I need my brother." He tried to call, but his voice had stopped working again, and the room was thrown into pitch black again. One figure stood out though. A lone girl, standing in the distance, staring at him. _I know her_, he thought, taking a step forward. But his legs wouldn't carry him further.

"No, I need to get to her"but still nothing came out, silence was his response. "Sophia!" he called and the yell echoed around him. The girl turned, opened her mouth, but the words were not her own.

"_Brother!"_

"_Where did you find him? He looks a mess. Where's that bloody specialist?"_

"_I just got here, where are – oh Jesus, Edward?"_

"Sophia?" he called again.

"_What's he muttering? You know him?"_

"_Just help him, please. He's the only family I've got left."_

She shut her mouth again, and the voices faded, and Ed's legs began working again. He ran, towards the figure, as fast as he could but he wasn't getting any closer. "Wait!" Black hands reached out, grabbing the child, and pulling her back with them. She cried out.

"Help!"

Ed began panicking. "No! Don't take her!" he called, and the cries echoed around him. But it was too late and she was taken by whatever force had grabbed her. "Sophia…" he whispered, once again surrounded by nothing but dark.

He fell to his knees, and then collapsed into the cold ground, which had once again become snow. He was faintly aware of darkness rolling across the mountain like a plague, and he let the shadows take him.

* * *

"How's he doing?" Al asked, yawning. He'd stayed up since they'd brought in the beaten, mumbling Ed.

"Which one?" Mustang replied grimly. "They're both as bad as each other." He sat down on the uncomfortable hospital chair beside him. "You should go home, get some rest." He said, watching him yawn once again.

"I wouldn't be able to. I'll stay here." Al replied. "You can go if you want, I'll call you."

"I doubt I'd get much sleep either. Sure is quiet at this time." He said, and he was right. There was hardly a sound, apart from the beeping of machinery.

""How'd he end up like that?" Al asked softly, obviously speaking about Ed.

"We're lucky they found him when they did." Mustang remarked staring at the roof.

"I don't get how I missed him, I scoured every single alley and street and drainpipe in the city the other night. I could've gotten him in here earlier." Al replied berating himself.

"I doubt it Alphonse. Your brothers always had a knack for attracting trouble, you used to as well. Maybe the automail and armor acted as a magnet." He joked with a smirk. "Plus, if I had watched the two of them closer none of this would've happened. They were in the carriage next to me."

"Just wait until Winry arrives, you should have heard her on the phone this morning."

"Yesterday morning." Mustang corrected.

"Really?" Al asked, "I probably should've warned her about the article."

"At least she won't be fretting over where he is now."

"No, now she'll be fretting over the fact that he's in the hospital with some unknown disease."

"It's not a disease." Mustang reasoned.

"The fact that he's in here is good enough for her, she doesn't care what it is, just how serious."

"Ah, well I suppose that's all that matters when you're not treating it."

"We're lucky Fuery picked up the specialist, I'd hate to think of how bad the situation might've gotten." Al said, yawning again, his eyes drooping, but his mind not letting him rest.

"If I hadn't seen you standing next to him, I would've thought he was you."

"What! No way, he looks heaps different to me." Al argued tiredly. "Okay maybe he's little like me." He said when Mustang raised an eyebrow to him. "But you only thought it because you were panicking."

"I wasn't panicking, Roy Mustang does not panic." He denied.

"Well fine, because everything else was chaotic." He said, rolling his eyes. "D'you think he actually knows Ed, or just recognised his face from pictures?" Al asked, genuinely curious.

"I'd have to say, the pictures flatter him much more than what he looks like now." Mustang said grimly.

"Maybe we met him, when we were traveling. I mean, I suppose even if we had met he wouldn't recognise me, would he?" he said, "I hate not being able to remember, maybe I could help, or…I dunno," he sighed. "Sometimes it's frustrating."

"Well, Fullmetal's the only one who knows now. He's the only one apart from you who was there for the entire journey."

"I feel like I don't even know him anymore, he changed so much in those four years, and now he's come back and I don't know anything. I suppose it's difficult for him too." He mused.

"Because it always use to be a burden the both of you shared." Mustang supplied. "And now he's got to carry the weight himself." He chuckled. "Because he's too damn stubborn to ask for help."

Al laughed. "He's always been like that, even before Mom died."

"Excuse me, Major General Mustang?" both of them looked up at the young nurse in front of them, who had obviously been handed night duty. Hooray for her. "Major Havoc's awake, sir." She said, speaking in low tones so as not to wake any of the patients. Mustang and Al were up in an instant, and straight into Havoc's room.

"Hello answers." Havoc crowed when they both came in. "How on earth did I get in the Hospital? Last I checked I was on a train."

"It's a long story." Al said, but couldn't help but smile at the fact he was awake, if not at his best.

"Al, haven't seen you in a while, what're you doing here?" he asked. "Is it something really bad? Am I dying?"

"No you are not dying." Mustang said, rolling his eyes. "Alphonse is waiting for his brother to wake up, because the two of you went and got yourselves poisoned."

"Poisoned, I knew there was something funky about that train water." He said, glaring at nothing in particular.

"I suppose that answers the question of where it came from." Mustang said. "Great now I've got to order for the train water to be tested."

"I don't think you'll need to worry about that." Said a voice from the door. The three of them looked and saw the specialist doctor from earlier.

"Are you still here? I would've thought you would be asleep at a Hotel or something?" Al asked him.

"Well when the nurse told me my patient was awake, naturally I thought I'd come check it out." He replied. "I'm glad to see my theory's working. But the fact that it is means that someone deliberately poisoned the drinks, it's not something that could just accumulate, my best guess would be someone was after the one of you, and had to poison both drinks to make sure they got the right one." He said, going around to Havoc and checking the various machines. "The fact that Ed was kidnapped shortly after would suggest they were after him."

"Kidnapped?" Havoc questioned. "But he was sleeping right across from me. Is he alright?"

"We found him." Mustang replied. "But he's not in the best shape. He's been worse, but it's still not something I'd like to repeat anytime soon, I'm not going to have free time for a week." He sighed wistfully, imagining the pain in his wrist in the days to come.

"Someone had already given him some of the medicine that stops the poison from spreading."

"What? He was already treated?" Mustang asked.

"Well, I don't think they wanted him to die did they? They would have the antidote ready." The doctor replied.

"You seem to know an awful lot about this." Mustang said suspiciously.

"I'm a doctor, I specialise in toxins and drugs. A.k.a. Poisons. I deal with this kind of thing all the time."

"I suppose…" Mustang said.

"_I _didn't poison him, if that's what you're getting at, there are much better poisons that they could've used, and I don't really think that you would've needed to call me up if I had done it. I wouldn't want to make myself a suspect." The doctor said. "Plus, Ed's an old friend of mine." He added.

"You do know him?" Al asked. "Did we help you, when we were traveling, I don't remember."

"No," he smiled, "I met Ed about 13 years ago, or around then." The three others exchanged glances; he's been missing for 15. "We used to work on rockets, in Germany." He held out a hand to Al. "I've heard of you, you're his brother right? Alphonse?"

"Yeah, Alphonse Elric." He said, shaking the hand. The doctor smiled at him, and introduced himself.

"I'm Alphons Heiderich."

* * *

'_A consultant is someone who takes a subject you understand and makes it sound confusing.'

* * *

_

**And here's where the movie spoilers sort of start except for that fact that I didn't kill of the characters and the entire ending is different. I've basically just used some characters from the movie lol. But there are still spoilers, I still haven't seen it in English because Dad won't buy it for me through Amazon or anything like that and it doesn't come out in Australia until February. Bastards lol.**

**DoThePieFace**


	7. Bit of Both

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Seven**

**Bit of Both**

'_We're all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.'_

_- Oscar Wilde_

Ed opened his eyes slowly, blinking to adjust to the light, and immediately registered the fact that he was in a hospital. He'd been in enough of them now to not be surprised waking up surrounded by white. They really needed to consider redesigning. He turned his head and it was then he noticed the sleeping form of his younger brother. He smiled slightly. _There goes my plan, right out the window. _He thought, but was glad to have him there nonetheless.

He closed his eyes, breathing evenly, trying to remember what had happened, and what would've resulted from him winding up in hospital. He could tell from the various dull throbs of pain that he had been injured somehow, but generally, people didn't visit hospitals for the interior decoration.

"Still not awake?" A voice asked. Ed almost jumped, but continued pretending to be asleep. That was Mustang's voice.

"No, not yet," Al replied. How long had he been awake? "How's Havoc doing?"

_Havoc, that's right, we were on the train._ Ed thought.

"He's good; the doctor said he should be out of here in a few days." Since no noise followed, Ed guessed Al had nodded. He heard a rustle of material beside him as Al stood.

"I've got to go pick up Winry from the train station, and then I've got to go stop by home. Michelle'll be fretting." He said. "Call me if he wakes, alright?"

"Sure thing." Mustang answered, and once Ed was sure Al was out of the room, he opened his eyes. Thing was, Mustang had gone too.

"Oh well." He said quietly. He looked to the door again and saw Mustang in the frame.

"You're awake." He said, surprised. Ed nodded.

"I would've thought the fact that my eyes were open and I was moving would tell you that." Mustang ignored him.

"Care to share what happened this time Fullmetal?" he asked instead.

"You tell me; what am I doing in a hospital?"

"Oh good, you're awake." Both turned to the door where Doctor Heiderich was entering the room. Ed's eyes widened.

"No way! Alphons?" He asked.

"You _do _know him?" Mustang asked for confirmation when Alphons tilted his head and smiled in acknowledgement.

"Is there something about hospitals you enjoy Ed?" Alphons asked. "Or do you really have that many people that enjoy beating you up?" Ed looked like he was thinking about it.

"Bit of both." He answered with a small frown, before it turned into a huge grin. "If I could get up, I'd hug you." He said.

"Would someone like to fill me in?" Mustang said loudly over Alphons's response.

"Uh, this is Alphons, we used to work together."

"Yeah, I got that much from him. I'm talking about what Havoc told you." He replied, resisting the urge to throttle him. He'd missed out on a lot of sleep, had a huge stack of paperwork waiting for him, had two of his sub-ordinates in hospital because of poisoning, and had enough. Ed knew the answers, he'd be damned if he didn't get them. "You acted like you knew the people he described."

"I do." Ed answered, after a moment's hesitation.

"Who are they?" Mustang asked when Ed didn't elaborate.

"…is it important?" Mustang resisted the urge to scream in frustration.

"No." He answered sarcastically. "I was really just asking so I could find them and tell them next time to do a better job."

"No need to be sarcastic." Ed grumbled. "I know them, but names won't do anything to help you. As far as Amestris is concerned, they don't exist." Alphons looked at him curiously.

"The cryptic answers aren't helping." Mustang said through gritted teeth. "I don't care if it doesn't help. I want names, I want descriptions, and I want _motives_."

"Is it Dietlinde?" Alphons asked curiously. Ed glared at him, and he stared back innocently.

"Dietlinde?" Mustang questioned. "Care to elaborate." It wasn't really a question.

"No." Ed said, now in a somber mood.

"Bloody hell, Elric!" Mustang exclaimed, fed up. "That was a direct order!"

"Yeah, because I really care if you fire me!" Ed replied.

"I'm trying to help!"

"You'd help more if you stayed out of it!"

"Her name's Dietlinde Eckart." Alphons interrupted.

"Alphons!" Ed exclaimed.

"At least he's helpful." Mustang said.

"He doesn't know what he's doing." Ed muttered.

"I'm helping."

"Yeah, great job." Ed said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I don't need more people getting involved, enough people have gotten hurt." He finished quietly.

"Who's gotten hurt?" Alphons asked, folding his arms in disbelief. Ed pretended he hadn't heard the question. Alphons's brows furrowed then his eyes widened. "Who?" he asked urgency in his voice. "Oh my god…" he breathed, "that's why they're not here. That's why…what happened?" he asked.

"Just shutup Alphons, you don't know what you're talking about." Ed said, turning on his side and ignoring them.

"Who's not with him?" Mustang asked.

"Ed!" There was another cry from the door, and a flurry of blonde hair whipped past Mustang and latched itself to Ed. He sat up instantly, to avoid being crushed and hugged Winry back.

"Heya…Winry." He said quietly. She drew back.

"What? What's the matter?" she asked, concern lacing her voice.

"It's nothing." He said quietly. She moved and he could see Al standing hesitantly in the doorway. "Al…" he said with a small smile.

"I'm sorry." He said. Ed shook his head.

"No, I'm sorry; I shouldn't have reacted like that."

"You were just-" he began.

"Let's forget it, huh?" Ed said instead, cutting across him. A grin spread across his face.

"Sure." He replied.

"Marian?" the doctor asked quietly. All of the occupants of the room turned towards the small voice. Ed shook his head subtly, and he sighed disappointedly. "No, different eyes," he muttered quietly. "You'll be alright to get out of here in a week or so. Major Havoc should be too. If there's nothing else, I'd better be heading back home…" he said, turning to leave the room. "I'll see ya round Ed."

"Wait." Mustang called after him following him out of the room. He poked his head back into the doorway. "I mean it Fullmetal, I don't care what problems you've got with it; Havoc is lying in a hospital bed in the room next to you because you wanted to play this stupid game. I don't care if you put yourself in danger, but you're not doing it to my other staff as well." And with that he was gone. Ed narrowed his eyes and looked down at the floor.

"Ed...?" Winry asked. "What happened?" he sighed and smiled at her.

"Its nothing." He said. "Just Mustang, being Mustang." She looked at him her face betraying her i-know-you're-lying-to-me look.

"When are you going to start letting me in on these things Ed?" She asked sadly.

"When I'm sure you'll never get hurt." He replied quietly. She sighed and kissed him gently on the lips. Al watched goggle eyed.

"Woah, woah, hold up. Am I missing something?" he asked a huge grin on his face. "When did you two hook up?" Both of them blushed.

"Well I had to get my automail put on, so I went to Risembool for a week or so…" Ed said.

"Let's never fight again." Alphonse said, solemnly. "Lest I miss something like this once again." Ed rolled his eyes and Winry glared. "I need to buy a camera." He mused aloud, and ducked as Winry threw a pillow at him.

"Hey! How come he only gets a pillow?!" Ed exclaimed. Winry just grinned at him.

* * *

"Wait! Doctor." Mustang called after Alphons.

"Look, I really should be–"

"You're the only one who can give me answers." Mustang interrupted. "You sound like you know Elric. Then you'd know he's not going to tell me what I want. I can't have my staff being put in danger, because he's too stubborn to ask for help." Alphons sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. If I'm right, and I think I am, then the person you're looking for…" he hesitated. "Her name's Dietlinde Eckart."

"That's all you can give me?" Mustang asked, when he didn't say anymore names.

"Well, I don't know, I haven't really spoken to her in a while, I don't really want to." He sighed again, his hand falling back down to his side. "I suppose…Rudolf Hess and uh…whatshisname…Karl Haushofer. Is there anything else? That's all I know, you'd have to ask Ed about the rest." Alphons said.

"No that's all. Thank-you, for your help." Mustang said, standing up straight and saluting him. Alphons smiled lopsidedly.

"No problem, any time." He replied.

"I wouldn't say that too quickly; Fullmetal has a knack for getting himself in these predicaments."

"I know what you mean." Alphons said with a laugh. "But usually…I only wonder about what's different this time."

"What's different?" Mustang questioned.

"It's nothing." Alphons replied. "I'm just talking to myself. I'll see you around, Major General Mustang." He said, waving and continuing on down the hall. Mustang turned around and headed back in the direction of Ed's hospital room, hospital personal passing him on the way, the sun streaming through the windows. His stomach grumbled, and he sighed, he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. He changed his mind, turned around and walked back to the exit.

He pulled the car into his driveway, and unlocked the door opening it to the silent house. Of course, Hawkeye would be at work by now, keeping things under control. He quickly warmed the food she's left in the fridge for him, and went to his room, prepared to fall asleep. However something in the guest room on the way caught his eye. It was a photograph. He walked over and picked up the flimsy paper, turning it to show the photo on the other side. He could recognise three of the figures, one looked familiar. They were in a park, trees surrounding them, four happy faces.

On the far left was the girl he didn't know, she had dark hair and skin, from what he could tell. She did, however, resemble Rose. Her hands were holding onto an arm draped across her shoulder, which led to one of the smiling faces he recognised. Alphons Heiderich. Standing next to him, was another girl whom he thought he recognised. At first glance, he thought it was Winry, but after examining the photo more carefully, he noticed some subtle differences.

Alphons's voice at the hospital came back to him. _"Marian? No, different eyes."_ Was this mystery woman Marian? All of them had glowing grins on their faces, and he could make out a sign in the background. _ Circus Carnival_. All of them, except Ed that was. He was looking past the camera it seemed, and the smile on his face, didn't quite reach his eyes. He figured that the picture must belong to Ed, and that the camera seemed out of date. The picture was rather poor quality, and wasn't even in colour. He frowned and left the room, leaving the picture on his bedside desk and resolving to look at it more carefully in the morning. He lay on the bed, and within minutes was sleeping deeply.

* * *

"Hey, boss!" Havoc called, coming into the room in a wheelchair, being pushed by a nurse. She smiled politely and left the room shortly after, leaving them alone. "So where's your brother?" he asked, after Ed had said a disgruntled hello.

"I finally managed to convince him and Winry to go home and get some sleep. It's getting late." He answered, and indeed it was. The streets of central were dark and wet. It had started raining recently, so not even the moon lit the streets, leaving the scarce lighting provided by passing cars and street lamps to lead the way home for hurrying pedestrians.

"Ah, and without a concussion, that's gotta be a new record." Havoc joked. Ed grinned lopsidedly. "So I heard you've been giving the General a hard time again." And no one would ever know the grin had been there.

"Oh, don't you start with me too." He growled.

"No worries." Havoc replied. "He got most of the answers he wanted out of that doctor."

"What?!" Ed exclaimed, "Like what?"

"He got a few names, 3 or 4 I think." Havoc said.

"Alphons is an idiot telling Mustang about the society like that."

"The society?" Havoc questioned curiously, leaning forward in the wheelchair. "Now there's something the young doctor didn't mention." Ed groaned.

"I thought he would've, damn, that just causes more questions."

"Everything you're going to say is going to cause questions boss. But I'm not here to talk business, just a chat between friends. How are you holding up? I hear you had a bit more bad luck than I did." Havoc answered, with a shrug of his shoulders, and a comfortable stretch in his chair.

"I'm sorry," Ed said, "for dragging you into all of this."

"Sorry!" Havoc exclaimed with a grin. "The ladies love a man in need." Ed rolled his eyes, but snorted anyway. "You didn't answer my question." Havoc baited.

"I'm fine." Ed said exasperatedly.

"I hear you were muttering something when they finally found you." He said, and Ed could tell he was leading up to something. "Mustang and Al both confirmed there was a Sophia somewhere in the jumble of mainly undistinguishable words." Due to the fact Havoc was studying the crack in the roof intently; he didn't notice the look of unmasked pain that shot across Ed's face, later replaced by a cool uncaring expression. "I wonder who Sophia is?" he asked curiously, turning his head back in Ed's direction.

"That girl…" Ed said, not meeting Havoc's eyes, "Brosh's daughter. Sophia that was her name." He replied, unblushingly. "I suppose I just…thought of her, I haven't seen Lieutenant Ross or the sergeant for a while."

"That was a lame excuse, even for you." Havoc stated bluntly. "Well as well as that, I also heard Al mention that the other Alphons had mistaken Winry for someone named Marian." He looked at Ed, analysing his face. "There wouldn't be anything behind that, would there Ed?" he asked.

"Don't know what you're talking about Havoc, I think they mixed up your medication." Ed replied absentmindedly. And for an instant their eyes met, and the topic was changed. Later when the nurse took Havoc back to his room, he made a note to mention something to the General.

Ed hadn't fooled either of them.

* * *

'_I love deadlines; I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by.'

* * *

_

**So you all smell nah I'm kidding. I was freaking out earlier this week because I left my wallet in one of our neighboring towns, - at the McDonalds there lol – but I got it back this morning, with my money in it surprisingly so now I'm relieved, but annoyed because I planned to go shopping this weekend but I can't now because the weekend's basically over and it would take an hour on the train to get to the city and I can't be bothered. But I ate a punnet of blueberries (the best fruit in the world) and they were good. There's some random information for you lol. P.S. What d'you reckon would be good female names for Edward and Alphonse, I'm merely curious. **

**DoThePieFace**


	8. Long Nights

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Eight**

**Long Nights**

'_What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.'_

_Lao Tsu_

Mustang didn't get the chance to visit Ed in the hospital over the next few days. He was busy sorting out the hospital bills, getting the backlash for the train incident, ordering the train water to be tested, fixing the newspaper problem, and trying to somewhere in between these things, eat, drink and rest. He didn't think another frustrating session with the grown man would be good for his blood pressure.

So the next time he actually saw the Alchemist, was over a week later, when he walked into the office. "Out of the hospital Fullmetal?" Mustang asked conversationally, not looking up from his work.

"Nope." Ed replied. "I'm actually a hologram." **(1)**

"A what?" he responded, not really wanting to hear the answer. Ed had been coming up with a lot of strange names and things since he'd returned. And so he discarded the comment after a 'never mind' from Ed. They sat in silence for a while, the scrawling of a pen and scraping of the chair as Ed sat down, the only noise that came from the office.

"Look…" Ed began. Mustang looked up curiously; Ed looked like he was going to choke on something. "I'm sorry…" he said at last, "about all of this, I didn't mean to cause the trouble." Mustang looked at him in unreserved surprise. Never, in his entire career, could he recall a time when Ed had apologised, so naturally he was stumped for words. **(2)**

"Uh…its okay, I suppose." He said at last, and Ed nodded satisfactorily, and that was the end of it. Mustang thought now was a good a time as any to bring up the photograph he had found in the guest room. "I was curious," he began, "How long did you know Dr. Heiderich?"

"About 13 or more years." Ed answered, "I met him in my…absence. That was before he was a doctor though. I should have asked him why he became a doctor." He mused aloud.

"I don't believe he's left yet, we're still paying his hotel bill anyhow." Mustang replied. "I've another question. He's given me names,"

"Havoc mentioned that." Ed responded. "Who'd he say?" Mustang opened the drawer in his desk and pulled out a sheet of paper, reading the names from that.

"Dietlinde Eckart, Rudolf Hess, Karl Haushofer, it's not much to work on." Mustang replied.

"Well sorry, Father dearest has a knack for making mysterious groups turn their heads my way."

"Your dad helped kidnap and attempt to poison you?" Mustang asked skeptically.

"He didn't _help, _but that's what you get in my family." Ed answered, yawning. "Half of them try to murder you; the other half would give an arm for you. Literally." He added as an afterthought.

"So I suppose Hoenheim fits into the first category." Mustang said. Ed frowned.

"Well that depends on how you're going to look at it. One: he's often responsible for enemies I may gather knowing of my existence; two: it's not like he's ever around should the need for him to be arise. But, on the other hand, I don't believe he does it on purpose." He reasoned.

"So he's in the middle?" Mustang asked a raised eyebrow.

"I suppose he changes sides. Anyway getting back to the subject, he wasn't actually aware that they were after me." Ed replied.

Mustang rolled his eye. "Why are you being so co-operative?" he asked suspiciously.

"I was under the impression that's what you wanted. Should I stop?" he asked innocently.

"Why the change of heart?" he asked, "and that doesn't mean stop."

Ed leaned back in his chair. "After much debating with myself," he began, "I came to the conclusion that while I will not divulge the entire story, bits and pieces are necessary, seeing as the bastards found their way here."

"I'd like a complete list of names please, and descriptions. Anything that helps."

"You've got the main guys. Well Eckart's a chick." He corrected. "And so is Noa,"

"Noa?" Mustang questioned.

"Ah, yes." Ed said sagely. "She's a tricky one; don't underestimate her, that's a big mistake. Noa is the one that looks like Rose." He explained. "Only she has different eyes, and different hair. Rule number one with Noa, and I'm telling you now, this will save your life. No matter what, _do not_ let her touch you. A brush of the arm is all it takes and…" he brought his finger across his throat, he was acting very childishly and Mustang looked at him telling him to be more serious. "You're a goner." He finished.

"Is she an alchemist like Kimblee?" Mustang asked. Ed laughed.

"Alchemist? Hell no, she's a gypsy. Don't ask." Ed said, "Those four are the only ones you need to worry about, the others are all mindless minions, I wouldn't know their names if you asked." He seemed rather disinterested in it all, looking at his nails carefully, as if trying to find flaws. Mustang wrote down the last name with the instruction not to let her touch you, and not to touch her.

They sat in silence once again, until Mustang recalled that he was confronting Edward about the photograph and had gone off topic. He scowled to himself, whilst still keeping a cool expression, and started the conversation once again.

"These people, who look like your brother, and who look like Ms. Thomas, is there something behind this?" he asked. Ed looked at him curiously.

"Yes." He answered slowly, suspiciously. "To tell you the truth, I wasn't in this world."

"You're never in the world everyone else is Fullmetal." Mustang replied. "You seem to think you're special or exempt." He said sarcastically.

"No, I mean literally. Wasn't in this world, I'm pretty sure Alphons mentioned Germany, and I told Havoc a few of the country names I had been in. You won't find any of those in this world, just as you wouldn't find Amestris, or Drachma, or Xing in the world I'd been in."

Mustang looked at him skeptically. "You don't seriously expect me to believe this, do you Fullmetal?" Ed shrugged.

"Believe what you will." He replied disinterestedly. "You brought it up for a reason. In the world I was in, there were…alternate versions of people I knew. Alphons is obviously my brother, Noa, is the alternate of Rose, and I knew a girl named Marian, who was the alternate of Winry. There were alternates of Hoenheim and me," Ed said slowly, "but they no longer exist. There was one of Bradley, and Lyra, and…" He glanced at Mustang, "never mind." **(3)**

"I'm going to assume that Marian, Noa and Alphons are the ones accompanying you in this photo then?" Mustang asked, not questioning the reason the other Hoenheim and Ed didn't exist, and handing over the black and white photo. Ed's brow furrowed as he took the photo handed to him.

"Where did you find this?" he asked, studying it.

"You left it in my guest bedroom." Mustang replied, going back to his work. "For someone who I shouldn't underestimate, you seem to be rather friendly with the Noa girl." He said, referring to the way that she and Alphons appeared to be in a relationship.

"Yeah," Ed said darkly. "I guess you can never really know a person." The tone of his voice made Mustang decide he didn't want to know the story behind the relationship. Ed pocketed the photo, like he'd done it a-hundred times and stood up, all in one fluid motion. "I'm heading out, I'm going to try and catch Alphons before he leaves for where ever the hell it is he lives." He announced.

"Where are you staying tonight?" Mustang asked.

"No, you cannot interrogate me some more." Ed answered instead. "I'm staying with Al and Michelle." He replied. He'd met Al's wife recently, she was a nice lady, and seeing as he had made up with Al, there was no reason to stay away. "Predictable." He said shortly, earning a satisfying scowl from the dark-haired man. He walked out of the office with a huge smirk on his face, passing Fuery on the way. "Hey Serge." He said waving.

"Hey Ed. Good to see you're out of the hospital." He said. "I was just about to take the doctor back home." Ed stopped next to Fuery in the hallway.

"He's going home?" Ed asked. "Where's he staying? Don't worry about it, I'll take him." He offered.

"Really?" Fuery asked, a surprised look crossing his face. "Can you drive?" Ed rolled his eyes, grinning.

"No, I thought we'd walk." He replied sarcastically. "Of course I can drive; I had a good car too, till Alphons crashed it." He glared in remembrance, and then grinned evilly. "Oh he'll get his." Fuery started backing away slowly, into the office he had been heading into.

"Yeah, you can take him Ed." He called, Ed turned to him, the evil grin still on his face. "Have fun with that." Fuery called, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Ed raised his fist and knocked on the door, it opened almost instantly. "Ed," Alphons exclaimed surprised. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I volunteered to take you home. I thought maybe we could talk?" he offered, shrugging his shoulders casually. Alphons smiled.

"Yeah, that'd be good. C'mon you can carry my heavy stuff." He said. Ed let out a sarcastic cheer of joy and they both laughed. Ed was reminded of the times they used to spend together, back when they were younger in Germany, and a thought occurred to him.

"Hey Al," he called, and Alphons turned around, questioning on his face. "I haven't heard you cough once, what's up with that?" he asked. Alphons used to cough constantly, it scared Ed when he had one of his more violent attacks; they used to remind him of how his teacher used to cough up blood, and he didn't like it. That also reminded him he hadn't heard about what had happened to Izumi, there was no bad news, so perhaps she was still fighting.

"I became a doctor for a reason." Alphons replied. "I wasn't about to let you sacrifice your only way home to have me die anyway. I went to Xing and studied some of their medicines, I'm an alchemist cross doctor" he boasted proudly.

"You studied Alchemy?" Edward asked. "Can't leave your science can you?" he joked with a snort. Alphons just smiled at him, gathering the last remaining items that were scattered around the hotel and shoved them into the smaller bag he had separate to his suitcase.

"Before we go Ed," Alphons began, "I want to know that we can talk about…you know. I don't want to have an argument and then have to sit in the car in an uncomfortable silence." He said.

"Don't worry, that's why I'm taking you, to fill you in. C'mon let's go." He picked up Alphons's suitcase with his automail arm and took it out to the car he'd borrowed from the military. "D'you like my new arm?" he said, lifting it up and peeling back his sleeve, revealing the glinting metal.

"I was about to ask about that. I remember how much you hated that flesh-coloured thing you had." Alphons commented.

"Oh how I loathed it." Ed said with a grin. "The piece of crap broke; I haven't had a working arm in over 3 years." He said. He clambered into the car and Alphons climbed in next to him. Ed turned the key in the ignition and the car sparked into life. He reversed out of the hotel carpark, stopped to let Alphons sign out, and then drove off along the road. Just like old times, and for a second there, he could let himself think it was.

* * *

Alphonse walked through the streets of Central, two of the woman he loved, walking next to him. On his left was his childhood friend Winry, and on his right, a woman he loved in another way, his wife, Michelle. Life hadn't been quite the same without his brother alongside him, and it had gotten interesting quickly when he had returned. She was right, he regretted the argument. Yet, at the same time, he still wanted answers.

He listened to the two of them chatter on, loosing himself in his thoughts. He and Ed had talked while he was in the hospital, after he had come back once when Winry was still asleep at his house. He had gotten in trouble for it too. Ed had divulged details, but had definitely skipped a lot. He'd told Alphonse that he'd been in the world across the gate –which was a shock in itself – and that he'd been with their father. Seeing as Al couldn't remember the time when Hoenheim had visited the brothers when they were on the run, he had no memory of the man.

He had told Alphonse about the other Alphons, how they had studied rocketry together trying to find a way for Ed to return home, about Noa, the gypsy with an amazing talent, about Eckart, which wasn't necessarily a nice story. And finally, he had told Al what he had wanted to know for so long. What they had done, for the four years that were missing from his memory. Needless to say they had been there for a while.

He wasn't expecting Ed to return until tomorrow some time. He'd left, yesterday afternoon to take Alphons back home, and was planning to stay there for the night, recuperate and hit the road again early tomorrow morning. But he was concerned as to what would happen then. Whether he'd return to Risembool with Winry, and Al would hardly see him. Or, whether he'd stay in Central, and continue working for the military. Who knew, maybe it was neither of those options, but Al couldn't help but be concerned, especially seeing as he had just gotten out of the hospital. No one yet knew what had happened in the time Ed had been missing, and it was a pressing question.

They passed a stall and Winry and Michelle stopped for a while to look at something, while Al was distracted by a newspaper article glaring up at him. A picture of his brother, after he had been released from the hospital glowered up at him.

_**The Fullmetal Alchemist: Where has he been?**_

He ignored the article. Many of them had been appearing recently, most not flattering. Questions such as where had he been, and what had he been doing, and why had he left in the first place. Al chose to ignore them, rather than to read the abuse. The press didn't know anything; all they wanted was a story.

He wasn't the only one who wouldn't read the articles anymore. Winry wouldn't even pick up a newspaper. He smiled thinking about the way the two of them felt about each other, and how reluctant they both were to show it. He didn't know the reason the both of them were being so shy around each other, as far as he knew they were both head over heals with affection of some sort, and they were both idiots.

Of course he'd neither say that to either of them. He valued his life. He sighed as Michelle and Winry came back, dumping some more bags and boxes on him unceremoniously. Why had he volunteered to go shopping with them? Oh, that's right; it was that or the alternative: clean the house. He shuddered thinking of it. True, he was always cleaning up after Ed when they were smaller, he could remember that much, but he had never enjoyed it. Housework was depressing, it's been proven. **(4)

* * *

**

"You've gotten yourself into a real situation here, Ed." Alphons sighed. They were in his kitchen, Ed having filled him in on the way home. Ed took a sip of his steaming coffee, and yawned. He watched with humor as Alphons tried to hide the yawn that followed. **(5)**

"I know," he said, "but I don't see any other option. Enough people have gotten hurt." Alphons hesitated, not looking at Ed, but Ed wasn't looking at him either. He glanced across the kitchen table at the sitting Alphons, who was in turn looking out the window.

"Was it quick?" He asked. "Their deaths, I mean."

Ed hesitated. "…yeah…it was instant, for the both of them." They sat in silence; a nod was the only answer Ed received. The rain pelted down outside, it had started when they were about half-an-hour from the house and hadn't let up yet. Alphons let out a tired sigh.

"We've got to do something. There's got to be some other way, there's got to be something else we can do." Ed shook his head.

"I used to think that too." He said tiredly, quietly. "But I've tried everything, I've exhausted every option, I've manipulated every loop hole, I've used every mistake they've made to the fullest extent that I could, but I'm still here, trying to stop them." He looked up at Alphons, rich gold eyes meeting his soft blue ones. "This is the only thing that I haven't tried." Alphons's face betrayed the fact that he understood this.

"But are you prepared to do it?" He asked. "If worst comes to worst and…you couldn't get out or something, are you willing to go through with it?" he asked, fearing the answer. "Are you prepared to die, if you can't get out?" The look in Ed's eyes was answer enough, but the answer still shocked him.

"I didn't plan on having a chance to leave." He answered his tone surprisingly level. "Too many people will suffer; one sacrifice isn't that much of a loss." He said. Alphons swallowed more of his coffee.

"Does your brother know this?" he asked, and Ed averted his gaze. "He just got you back, they all just got you back, and you're prepared to leave, so suddenly." There was a harsh edge to his tone that Ed didn't miss. He knew Alphons meant to say that he'd only just gotten him back as well. Ed didn't respond for a while, he opened his mouth, closed it and opened it again.

"Have you a better idea?" he asked. Alphons took yet another sip of his coffee. Then walked over to the draw, pulled out paper, a pen, and anything else he thought useful and dumped the roughly in front of Ed, who moved his mug aside to make room.

"We plan it to perfection." He demanded. "And no buts, I've been involved in this from the start. Nothing is to go wrong. Understand? _Nothing_. I'm not taking you away from your family. We do this, we do it right. You're the expert, how's she going to know if there's a problem." He said. He continued rambling as Ed stretched. It was going to be a long night.

Hell, he'd been having a lot of them lately. What was one more?

* * *

'_Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.'

* * *

_

**(1) **I realise that in the time that Ed was in, there wouldn't have been holograms, but let's pretend he read some sci-fi books.

**(2) **Its not so much that Mustang can't remember as I can't remember a time that Ed's apologised to him, to proud I suppose. So let's play along, humour me.

**(3) **Three guesses as to the alternative that he's not telling Mustang about, it's not important in the storyline, but I like footnotes.

**(4) **I told my Home Economics teacher that to get out of end of the term cleaning. Muahahahaha. It didn't work, but my Maths teacher told me and I can't stand cleaning unless my music's blaring neighbor-complaint loud lol.

**(5) **Did you know that 55 of people will yawn within 5 minutes of seeing someone else do it? Well you do now. There was a lot of random crap in these footnotes.

**So I just got home from my schools awards night, god was that ever a yawn. It's still going, I snuck away, my Welfare teacher saw me, and I'm getting the biggest lecture in Welfare tomorrow, I can feel it. Thanks to all of you, who have been reviewing, keep it up. I try to reply when I have time, and when they're not anonymous lol. **

**DoThePieFace**


	9. Playing With Fire

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Nine**

**Playing With Fire**

'_The game of life is a game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy.' _

_- Florence Scovel Shinn_

The mood was relaxed as the 6 Military professionals lay about the room, doing nothing in particular. Excluding Hawkeye of course, who was trying to at least _look _like she was doing work. Ed yawned loudly and stretched, sighing in contentment. It had been a few weeks now since his return. He'd decided to stay with the military; he needed a job after all. Winry had gone home and he'd recently moved into a house and was now getting it furnished. Ah, life was sweet. Breda and Fuery were playing a game of Shogi. "Move that red thingy to E5." Ed hinted at Fuery, who blinked at the board and smiled.

"Thanks Ed." He said, picking up the piece and moving to the said square.

"Hey!" Breda exclaimed, sitting up straighter. "Stop giving him hints!"

"He needs them." Ed replied, wiping the smile off Fuery's face as he turned with a 'hey!' Ed shrugged. "Fine I won't help." He said. He relaxed even further into the chair, ignoring Fuery's pleas of help.

"Maybe instead of playing games, you should do some work." Hawkeye suggested calmly, shuffling papers in her hands and transferring them to the file cabinet against the wall.

"Work's boring." Havoc complained.

"He's got a point." Falman added, his head resting on the desk, twiddling one of his pens.

"What are you talking about!?" Ed said loudly, drawing the attention of all in the room.

"You enjoy working Fullmetal?" Mustang asked sardonically. ""Cause I was under the impression you _didn't _like it." Ed smirked, laughing loudly.

"I love work." He said, sinking further down his chair, he was about to slide off. "It fascinates me. I could sit and look at it for hours." Falman, Havoc, Breda and Fuery all snorted in laughter and turned back to what they had been doing: nothing. **(1)**

"Seeing as you like work so very much, Ed," Hawkeye began, Ed groaned. "You can take this down to Scheiska for me." She handed some books to Ed, who picked them up and stood up, heading out the doors to give the books to the resident bookworm.

"Hey wait up!" Falman called. "We're all going out tonight, with Armstrong and that. I forgot you're old enough to drink now, you wanna come?" he asked. Ed stopped.

"The Major?" he asked hesitantly. Falman laughed nervously. "Yeah alright." He answered before Falman could say anymore. "Tell me about it when I get back." That's right, just another day at work.

* * *

The bar was bustling with people, chatter and music. Ed looked up towards the stage where the house band was playing. He scoffed. Fuery looked at him in confusion. "What?" He asked, "Don't you like it?" Ed shook his head.

"No, it's great. I just never realised how crap the music is here." **(2)**

"Can you do better Fullmetal?" Mustang asked skeptically, leading the group across the floor. Ed fell in step with him.

"Hell yes." He answered. "The bloody guitar's not even tuned right." Havoc looked at him with a perplexed expression.

"When did you become a musician?" He asked.

"Well I had a lot of free time on my hands. And the instruments in Germany are much better than these pieces of crap. No offense." He added as an afterthought, sitting on a chair at the large table they had headed for. "When I finish making that thing at Winry's house than I'll show you. Hmmm, no one's invented one of those here yet. I could become rich." He pondered this for a while, the group choosing to ignore him, until Breda began collecting drink orders.

The night progressed, they danced, they ate, they drank, they laughed, and they talked. After about 20 minutes, Alphonse had joined them, much to Ed's delight, and then, much to his annoyance, Major Armstrong had arrived. He suffered a bone-crushing hug, and a shower of tears and sparkles, but he was glad to see the huge man anyway. **(3)**

As Mustang invited Hawkeye to the dance floor and they began to slowly dance, a thought occurred to Ed. "Hey," he asked Breda who turned towards him curiously. "What's it like working with the married couple?" he asked, nodding his head in the direction of the dancing pair. Breda laughed.

"It's alright, apart from people calling Hawkeye Colonel Mustang, nothing much has changed." He paused. "Except when they have a fight, then it's just plain awkward until they get over it. Like the time Mustang nearly burnt down the kitchen." Ed laughed.

"I heard about that," he said. "Colonel Mustang, ha, that'd be confusing."

"You don't know the half of it. People who've heard about the Flame Alchemist, 'Colonel' Mustang', get the two of them confused. It's kinda funny to watch the poor idiots who say, 'I thought you were a guy'." Ed laughed again. "What about you?" Breda asked.

"Huh?" Ed asked, taking a sip from his drink. "What about me?"

"What's you status with the _ladies?_" He asked sneakily. Ed looked back at the crowd.

"Well, there's Winry." He said after a while, "But I'm not sure what's actually going on there."

"It's because you're both idiots." Al inputted. Ed turned and glared at him.

"What was that?" He was beginning to think Al wasn't used to alcohol. Because he wasn't acting very intelligent for the few drinks he had had.

A look of remembrance crossed his face. "Oh yeah, I wasn't gonna say that to you 'cause you'd pummel me." He said, the realization dawning on him. Ed rolled his eyes, and turned back to Breda.

"Any of you in any serious relationships?" He asked. Breda laughed.

"I wish, I don't know about the others, I don't really ask. I'm pretty sure there's something going on between Scheiska and Falman but they hide it pretty well. And I think Havoc's got a girl, but hasn't he always?" He took a swig of beer. "But surely you had some other flings while you were gone." Ed nodded slowly. **(4)**

"Yeah…there was one." He said. "That got rather serious."

"What happened?" Breda asked cautiously. Al excused himself to go to the bathroom.

"…she died." He said simply, finishing off his drink. Breda was at a loss for words. He wasn't an emotional person; he didn't know what to say. So, naturally, he changed the subject.

"So those articles finally stopped." He said conversationally. Ed smirked.

"Yeah, 'bout time. I hate reporters." Ed said spitefully.

"I heard some far-fetched things." Breda chuckled. "D'you know one article even suggested that you couldn't use alchemy anymore?" He laughed again, "You, _you,_ of all people." Ed laughed, somewhat nervously.

"Yeah…yeah, they'll write anything." He replied. He could see, in the corner of his eye, faint sparkles, from Armstrong as the group began to head over, and he couldn't help roll his eyes. He stood up, ignoring what Breda had been saying; something about 'transmuting them all into…' and the rest was lost.

"Where're you going?" Breda asked.

"I'm gonna call it a night." He said. He pulled out some money and gave it to Breda, "That should be enough for my drinks." He explained. "Don't spend it. Or I'll transmute _you_." Breda gave him a mock salute.

"Sure thing Ed." He answered. As he turned to collect the cash, his hand knocked Ed's empty glass. It fell to the ground and shattered. Ed sighed, as Breda frowned. "Woops." He said. Ed pulled out a few more dollars.

"Here, that's for the glass." He said exasperated.

"Can't you just fix it?" he asked. Ed started towards the door. "Ed?" he called. "Just use alchemy." Ed turned around.

"I…" he began. Then he changed his mind. "See ya tomorrow." And left the bar, in a rather hurried manner. Breda dawned to the realization, as the group came back over, and Al returned from the bathroom, asking where his brother went; that Ed hadn't yet used alchemy that he had witnessed, and that he'd never denied what the articles had said. He snapped out of his reverie when Havoc had a go at him for making a mess, so he decked him. Nearly started a bar fight while he was at it.

So he hadn't fixed a broken glass. So what? He shook his head…so what?

* * *

They were all feeling the aftereffects of last night the next morning. "Uhhh..." Havoc groaned. "Why'd I drink so much? I hate headaches." He complained, to which the rest of them agreed. Hawkeye walked into the office, Black-Hayate trailing behind her, and she was shortly followed by Mustang.

"Good-morning boys." She greeted.

"Says who?" Falman asked grumpily. Mustang smirked, and took special care to slam the door loudly, deciding the throb his head sent through his body was worth it to watch the others complain and wince. They soon went about their normal business, basically nothing.

"It sure has been quiet lately." Fuery commented.

"Ahhh, touch wood!" Breda called. He glared at Fuery. "Are you trying to jinx us?" He asked, touching the wood of a potted plant in the corner.

"You think that touching the tree's going to stop anything happening Breda?" Mustang asked skeptically. "You lot have always been paranoid and superstitious." He yawned loudly. "Where's Fullmetal? He's 20 minutes late." He asked grumpily. It was then the rest of them noticed that he wasn't there.

"Maybe he's suffering the repercussions of our party last night." Falman suggested.

"We're all still stuck here." Havoc complained. "Why shouldn't he suffer with us?" The others nodded in firm agreement. "He left before the real party started anyway."

"Bet he still drank more than you, I'm surprised he was able to think coherently. I think we have ourselves a young alcoholic." Breda said in a sing-song voice.

"Fuery, go call him, tell him to get his ass in here no matter how bad his headache is." Mustang ordered, with a bored expression on his face, his elbow on the desk supporting his head. Fuery left the room after a quick 'Yessir!' "Is he coming?" Mustang asked when he opened the door and stepped in not 10 minutes later.

"No one picked up the phone sir, perhaps he's on his way here?" Fuery suggested. Mustang nodded and waved at him to sit down. However, when another half hour had passed with no sign of Ed, Mustang ordered Fuery to call again, once again receiving no answer. "I tried 5 times sir, I don't think anyone's home, I tried Alphonse's but his wife said he's not there either."

Mustang sighed irritably. "That'd be right; he'd sleep through a bloody tornado if you let him." He grumbled.

"Perhaps I should go check on him Major General." Hawkeye suggested. Mustang met her eyes, "Considering the event a few weeks ago." The others had forgotten about that, and it made this situation seem a lot more suspicious.

"Go then Colonel, if you see fit." He said, dismissing her.

"I expect the paperwork to be completed when I return sir." She said threateningly, and Mustang scowled.

"It's always paperwork." He grumbled, pulling the sheets towards him, "It couldn't ever be anything interesting like…lighting something on fire." He continued muttering under his breath, beginning to unhappily sign the sheets.

"You have a serious problem Colonel, you know that?" Breda asked. "You're a class 5 pyromaniac."

* * *

Hawkeye pulled the car up slowly to the apartment Ed was renting, and realised that he was in quite a remote area. _I haven't been here yet, _she thought, walking up the stairs and knocking on the door. When no one answered she knocked again, and peeked through the window. She could see the dark hallway, yet there were still no signs of life. She decided to try the back, stepping down from the porch and heading around the side path. It was then she noticed a faint roar in her ears, and a smell she recognised. Her eyes widened as she noticed the smoke rising up from the house.

_Fire!_ She thought quickly, running forward and turning the corner to the back of the house. She stopped in her tracks at the awesome sight of huge orange flames rising from the building. But she didn't hesitate in turning down the path she had just come from and busting open the front door. She noticed the lights were on and the smoke was what was making it dark.

With a burst of energy, Hawkeye slammed open the door to what she assumed to be the lounge, there was a lone couch, but nobody occupied the room. She heard a noise from the room across the hall. It sounded like something heavy hitting the ground. She crashed into the room, covering her mouth and coughing slightly, the smoke was beginning to get to her. A prone figure lay on the floor next to the bed, and she realised the sound she had heard was part of the roof collapsing in the kitchen. She ran towards Ed, who looked like he'd tried to get up but hadn't made it very far.

By the time she'd dragged him out of the house, and had fallen to her knees beside him, coughing profusely, she could see the distant flashes from a fire engine. Two fire engines, she corrected. A cough from the figure beside her drew her attention to the man lying on the ground; she quickly turned him over, blocked his nose, and covered his mouth with her own, breathing into him. He hadn't been breathing too well when she had taken him out of the house, and she wondered how long he'd been there, taking in the smoke and destroying his lungs. _Damn, Roy's going to have a fit._ _Well they'd wanted excitement_ she thought wistfully, pressing on Ed's chest, and once again leaning down to give him air.

"I hope Roy doesn't try to kill Ed for this…" she mumbled to herself, relieved when the authority's got there, and the paramedics took over. They also insisted on checking up on her and she let them fuss. _Was it the same group as before?_ She wondered looking over at Ed, who was gaining consciousness, after being on the ventilator for a while. _What've you gotten yourself into now Edward? _She thought, locking eyes with the fierce blonde, as if willing the question into his head.

* * *

Mustang checked the clock again, though barely 2 minutes had passed since he'd last glanced at it, it had been a little over an hour since Hawkeye had been gone. At half-an-hour, he'd begun to feel slight concern. At the forty-five interval mark, he'd begun to worry. Now, he was considering going down to check for him self. And he was ten minutes from doing so, before a loud angry voice drifted to the group's ears.

"Would you leave me the hell alone?!" The loud angry voice was saying. "I'm fine! You know why people hate hospitals?" the voice was getting closer, and louder. "Because doctors are a pain in the ass. Yes you are a pain in the ass!" Mustang sighed, his headache was getting worse, Doctors? What had Fullmetal gone and done now?

"Listen to him Edward." His head snapped up at the sound of his wife's voice, and he felt the worry disappear, feeling like an idiot for worrying in the first place. This was Riza Hawkeye he was thinking about.

"That's easy for you to say, they're not fussing over you." Ed retaliated.

"That's because I'm not difficult like you and I already let them do what they needed." Mustang stood up, why had the now Riza Mustang needed medical attention. Worry, make way for anger. The door opened and in burst an irritated, dirty Ed.

"What the hell happened this time?" Mustang asked as Hawkeye entered the room, shooing the doctor following her away. He could hear the doctor arguing with her uselessly before he rolled his eyes and gave up, turning away, and muttering under his breath.

He looked over at Ed, who was wearing a baggy shirt and pants that looked like they'd been borrowed. He also noticed that Hawkeye was wearing a new uniform. However both their faces had traces of ash on them, and Mustang could smell the smoke. "A fire?" He asked.

"Well you're the expert." Ed huffed angrily. "Someone tried to burn my f-"

"Language!" Hawkeye said sharply.

"-house down." Ed said, skipping what he had meant to say.

"What?" The others exclaimed, almost at the same time.

"I need you to go down and look at it, sir." Hawkeye said calmly. "He's right, you are the expert."

Mustang smirked. "Well there you have it gentlemen." He said. "That tree was not a lucky one."

"It's not funny!" Ed said loudly. "My stuff was in there, argh shit." He said, before Hawkeye could stop him. "Shit, shit, shit. My briefcase was in my room, ahhh Alphons is going to kill me." He rubbed his head sorely. "And I have a hangover, great, I need some aspirin." He clenched his fist. "Argh I need to hit something." The rest of them inconspicuously moved away. **(5)**

"I better go check it out; you want to come to try save your stuff Fullmetal?" He asked. Ed nodded.

"I may as well try." He sighed. "All my photos were in there too." He followed the Mustang's out of the room, as the others took another military car. Ed managed to salvage a few of his items, he was delighted to discover that his briefcase had been left in the spare bedroom, which had almost entirely missed the fire damage, but his furniture was mangled. "Ah well," he joked. "Didn't like the stuff anyway. Good thing I had insurance."

Mustang poked around the place, trying to find the source of the fire, and managed, at last to locate something. "Well, I believe I found the source of the fire." Mustang said, at last, picking up the remains of a mangled home-made bomb. "Why do you always manage to piss off murderous people?" He asked Ed annoyed.

Ed laughed, "Its part of my charm." He said, winking at him. Mustang rolled his eyes.

"Whatever the case, I think it would be best if you were placed under military supervision. You were lucky this time, but if Riza hadn't gotten here…" he let the sentence hang.

"Yeah, yeah." Ed said distractedly. "Do whatever you want. Just don't stick me in the barracks." He continued searching through the house, looking under fallen bits of timber and roof. Once he was satisfied he had everything that he wanted they left the place, and took Ed to the new home Mustang had organised for him. As Ed got out of the car, he looked up and down the street, recognizing one of the old buildings only a few houses from his. He stared at the old chapel, the last place he'd been before he'd disappeared to Germany.

"Something wrong Fullmetal?" Mustang asked, trying to find what he as staring at, but seeing nothing of particular interest. Ed shook his head.

"No. Nothing." He headed into the new house, it was much the same as his other one, 2 bedrooms, a study, kitchen, bathroom, and small living area, which joined with the dining room. He was glad to find that the place had already been furnished and he didn't have to worry about sleeping on carpet, and moved in the few belongings he had managed to salvage. He sighed and lay down on the bed, not bothering to get changed, faintly spotting the shadow of one of the two guards Mustang had positioned to watch over the house, and then he fell asleep.

* * *

'_A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.'

* * *

_

**(1)** I love that quote! I love quotes! You should see my school homework diary lol. "I love work. It fascinates me. I could sit and look at it for hours." And then it's like that one on pirates of the Caribbean 2 where Elizabeth goes to Jack "One of these days, you're going to do something about one of those good moments" or whatever I can't remember it and then Jack's like "I like those moments. I like to wave at them as they go by." I'll stop rambling now.

**(2) **Can't really say that for certain seeing as they don't really delve into it in the show, so I can say whatever I want. insert evil laugh

**(3) **I love the Armstrong sparkleness! It's hilarious, cracks me up every time, and then his family's got them all as well. I love that episode, it's really funny when Havoc's writing in the surveillance log.

**(4) **I was gonna give them a little more luck with love, but I got lazy, deal with it.

**(5) **Do you ever get that urge, that almost overwhelming want to hit something, really, really, really, really, really hard?

**Well I believe I've rambled enough for one chapter, but Kitty got the whole 'alternate Hughes' thing right. Who else would it be? Well thanks for all your reviews, please do so again, I love meeting new people, and having conversations about stuff that's not even relative to what we began talking about. That happens a lot. **

**DoThePieFace**


	10. Mysterious Departure

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Ten**

**Mysterious Departure**

'_Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.'_

_Carl Sandburg_

The group after Ed seemed to be falling into a pattern, make an attack, and then leave be for a while. And it had been a few weeks since anything had happened, but still Mustang wasn't letting the guards off, much to Ed's annoyance. "I can look after myself." He grumbled.

"Yes, I can see that, considering what's happened with the past two attacks." Mustang replied, to which Ed had no response, merely offering the lame excuse of: 'I was asleep both times'.

However over those few weeks, Ed had found something to occupy himself with while they had no work to do. And the others occupied themselves, making bets, on what Ed was making. Each day he'd bring in a lot of wood or metals, and smash them into shapes, or carve them into shapes. With the wood he carved, he often painted black or white. When asked what he was doing, he merely replied. "I'm finishing what I started at Winry's." And he was, he had had the things he'd picked out at her house, brought to his house, seeing as he wasn't allowed to be sent out on missions, or in his words: do anything fun.

The day came however when he had no equipment with him. "Hey Ed?" Fuery asked. "Where's your stuff."

"It's sad that to entertain yourself you must watch Fullmetal make stupid little nick-knacks." Mustang commented. Having just returned from his morning stroll and taking his place at his desk, glaring at the paper in the corner that was in a pristine pile.

"I've finished." Ed replied simply, ignoring Mustang's comment. He tended to do that a lot.

"Well who won the bet?" Breda asked.

"None of _you_, you're all broke." He replied. "Because Hawkeye bet none of you would get it." There was a collective groan around the room at this news.

"Well if it wasn't anything we guessed, what the hell was it?" Havoc asked.

"A piano." Ed said with a grin. "It's an instrument; you all said you wanted to see my musical talent, so I made my favourite instrument. I still need to tune it though." He added. **(1)**

"I've never heard of it." Mustang said disinterestedly.

"You wouldn't've." Ed replied. "It's a whole other-world thing." They'd all come to the agreement that when he began talking about the technology there, that it was too confusing to try to understand. However, when the opportunity to see one of the products arose, of course they wanted to see it.

"Can we see it?" Fuery asked.

"Sure, why not?" Ed said stretching. "Come over tonight, I'll have it entirely finished by then. We can have dinner or something."

* * *

"It's…uh…interesting." Breda commented at last. Ed laughed.

"That's what I said when Alphons first showed me it."

"What is it?" Al asked he had also joined the group, along with his wife, who was expecting the birth of their child anytime now. Ed gave him the same answer he'd given the others.

"C'mon I'm starved, let's eat something." He said, bringing out a lot of food. And then devouring half of it.

"Where'd you learn to cook?" Fuery asked.

"Germany was going through what they called a 'depression' after the world war." Ed explained. "Food and work were scarce, if you didn't know how to stretch your money and resources, than you'd go hungry. Which was a problem because I eat so much." He joked.

"World war?" Mustang questioned. Ed nodded.

"I got there a few years after it had finished. The whole of Europe basically declared war against each other. On one side there was Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Turkey, then on the other there was Britain, France, Russia, and Italy joined them later. I didn't learn too much about it, but I believe it was started over a long-time standing feud between Germany and France over land. The thing turned into a full-scale war. Hence the name World War." Ed explained. ""Course Europe's only a small corner of the world. So I don't know where the name sake arose. It was _supposed _to be 'the war to end all wars' but the way Hitler's running Germany now; I wouldn't be surprised if another broke out. Not to mention I heard there's trouble over in Asia as well." **(2)**

"There's another war?" Al asked. Ed nodded again.

"Germany seems to like bloodshed. Hitler's practically declared war against the Jews. Like they did anything." He said bitterly. "Nobody else in the world seems to realise the predicament Germany's in though. They've all decided to let it be our problem, and let us solve it on our own. Idiots."

"Who're the Jews?" Havoc asked.

"They're like Ishbalans; it's a religion, Judaism. Actually now that I think about it, the whole thing reminds me of what happened in Ishbal. The military's taken over the country, declared all Jews the enemy, and then began attacking them. Putting them in concentration camps, they're doing it to anybody they don't like, Jews, foreigners, gays." He looked up at them all, the silence was rather awkward. "But let's not talk about that because it's depressing and awkward." He declared. "Pass the potato." When they had finally finished dinner, and relaxed a bit; Fuery asked Ed to do whatever you did with the Piano. So he did. **(3)**

None of them had ever heard anything like it. Ed was right, the instruments in their world sucked. His fingers glided over the black and white wooden keys, each that he'd carved himself, with practiced ease, and the noise that each produced was beautiful.

"Wow," Al said when he finished playing a few songs. "Our music does suck."

"He means to say that was beautiful." Michelle smiled.

"Thanks." Ed said, blushing slightly, "I normally don't play for an audience. Well not for people I know anyway."

"You could get rich, making that." Breda said, remembering his comment at the bar the other night.

"Yeah, but I'd have to teach all of them to play. It's taken me years to learn all that. You'd have to learn to read the music, tune the thing, the accents, and different symbols." He laughed. "I can't be bothered, teaching that to a whole lot of kids, maybe a few, but not heaps."

"Can I have a go?" Fuery asked. Ed looked humoured.

"Go ahead, don't expect it to be easy." After a few minutes of listening to Fuery whacking on the keys uselessly, they all got bored with it, and spent the rest of the night, relaxing and partying and whatnot, until the only four left were Alphonse, Michelle, Mustang and Hawkeye.

"We're gonna head off, late nights aren't good for the baby." Al announced, making baby noises at his wife's stomach.

"I feel another Hughes approaching." Ed said. "Nobody get him a camera as a present."

Alphonse just stared blankly at him. "You're just jealous because I've got a beautiful wife, and you and Winry are too stupid to get together."

"Stop saying that!" Ed said, flushing red. "I'm not stupid, it's difficult." He argued.

"Yeah, yeah, but if you just _did_ something, the both of you wouldn't be so miserable."

"I'm not miserable." Ed retorted, pulling at his hair. "Ah he's just like Hughes, I can't outtalk him either." He ended up leaving shortly after. "So…" Ed said after a moment's silence, with the couple.

"We'd best be heading off as well." Mustang said. "Show up for work on time tomorrow, Fullmetal."

"_Show up for work on time._" Ed mocked. "Do you ever relax, and just go with the flow?" he asked. Mustang ignored him, standing up and saying his goodbyes. Hawkeye followed him to the door. She turned while he continued down to the car.

"Could you teach me?" She asked. Ed looked confused. She gestured towards the Piano. His face lit into a grin.

"Sure thing. You're going to have to learn to read the music before you play though. I'll make some stuff for you tomorrow." He said, waving her goodbye, and closing the door. He sat at the Piano again, sighed, and began to play.

* * *

The next week went by rather quickly, Al started fretting that the baby was going to pop out any time. It was annoying. Just as Ed said he would, he began teaching Hawkeye how to read music and play a few simple songs. She came by a lot. And he began making her a piano of her own. After another few weeks of her lessons, she was able to play quite a few songs and he'd finished her custom instrument. He noticed, as the weeks passed, that the size of her belly was increasing considerably, and guessed that the conversation he's had with Havoc about a baby had been right.

No more attempts were made on Ed's life, and reluctantly, Mustang was convinced to lower the guard numbers to one, though he was convinced that's what they were waiting for. And so a fight broke out about Mustang paranoia, which turned into a fight about Ed's height, or lack thereof, and an all round awkward silence for the rest of the day.

"Hello Ed." Hawkeye greeted, as she showed up for her regular lesson.

"Hey Hawkeye." Ed responded, inviting her inside.

"Just call me Riza." She said.

"Hawkeye it is." He replied. "Riza's just too…weird."

He offered her a drink, or a snack. It was the same routine almost every time she came over. She'd politely decline, and they'd stop being so civil and act like the old time friends they were. It was stupid really. They went through the same basic stuff, Ed'd test her on something he'd given her to look at and she'd play a piece he given her to learn.

He was showing her how to play a new song he'd remembered near the end of the lesson. She was sitting at the chair, he was leaning over her, somehow, his hand on hers, showing her which fingers pressed which keys. "I've got it." She said, and corrected the mistake she'd made.

"You're a quick learner." He complimented, standing back.

"Thank-you," she replied. "You're a good teacher." Ed scoffed lightly, but she ignored him; they both knew he was good. "I like the sound it makes, and the way the keys feel under my fingers." Ed could remember himself saying that to someone once. He blinked, and suddenly, he was the one sitting at the piano instead, someone else over his shoulder.

"_You're a quick learner." His teacher praised. _

"_Oh I know," Ed replied cockily. "But having a good teacher helps. I like the sound it makes, and the way the keys feel under my fingers, even if it's only on one hand." He said, brushing his real hand over the polished wood._

"_Don't worry, Ed." The tutor replied. "One day, you can do it with both of your hands, I know you will." He turned to look at her, the candlelight illuminating her face, and complimenting her features. He smiled softly and turned back to the piano._

"_I learnt that other one as well, I had –" Whatever he'd meant to say was cut off by lips meeting his own. He broke the kiss. She looked at him confused._

"_Don't you –" she began. Ed sighed. "I don't care," she whispered, "how dangerous your lives are, I just…" she took his hands into hers, and pulled him out of the chair, kissing him once again, and he kissed her back. "…want to be a part of it." He pushed her against the wall lightly, and she began undoing the vest he was wearing, deepening the kiss. They broke away, panting for air, and the vest fell to the floor at their feet. She hesitated at the top button of his white shirt._

"_I can't…" he said forlornly, lowering her hands._

"_Why not?" she asked, staring at him with her vibrant emerald green eyes, her voice was demanding. His gold eyes locked with hers._

"_I can't give you what you want." He answered as she searched his face. "There's…there's someone else…"_

_She huffed. "She's not here now." She kissed him again, forcefully, and he couldn't help but respond. "You can't say you don't want this." She whispered._

"_I can't…give you…what…you want." He repeated through kisses. But she pulled him into the room, shutting the door with her foot._

"_I don't care." She replied. "Humour me…" she fell onto the bed with him. "If only for tonight…"_

"Ed?" He was pulled from the memory by Hawkeye's concerned face. "Are you ok?" she asked. He nodded and offered a reassuring smile.

"I was somewhere else." He checked his pocket watch. "You'd better be heading home, it's getting late." He saw her to the gate, and she drove off. He said goodnight to the guard at the door, shared a glance that said the neither of them thought he needed to be there, and headed inside. He shut the door and leaned against it, sliding to the floor. "What am I doing?" he muttered to himself. He let out a tired breath, "I've been doing this for too long…" He stood up, and made a coffee, handing it to the guard outside, who accepted it readily.

It was beginning to get colder in the streets of Grand Central, and the occasional showers they got left the streets cold and wet. Ed didn't like winter much; true, it didn't get nearly as cold as in Germany or England, but the cold was enough to make his shoulder ache and he could never touch his skin with the metal. But after almost 3 years without a working arm, he wasn't about to complain.

* * *

As the weeks progressed, Ed was seen less and less. Mustang had finally agreed to let the guards off, and began sending Ed out on missions again. Not that there was much to do. Mustang's unit dealt with the more serious stuff, and to be frank, apart from the trouble Ed had caused, nothing serious had happened. So he inspected towns, checked out complaints. Police work basically.

However, he had been distancing himself more and more. It began with an occasional decline of an invitation to go out, to it being rare for them to get him to accept it. He locked himself up in his house, the only people he really saw was Hawkeye for her lessons, and Alphonse and his new niece.

He'd been there for the birth of his brothers' daughter, and he had to say, that they'd done much better that time than when they'd 'helped' deliver Elicia. Alphonse and Michelle had decided to call the child Nina. They'd told him they'd picked out the name before he'd even returned, so Al was shocked and excited to hear that the little girl Nina, may have played an important part in the namesake. It gave him hope that maybe his memories weren't lost forever, simply concealed.

"I say, we rock up at his place, and surprise him." Breda had suggested when they were discussing the issue; to which all the males had readily agreed. Hence the reason Al, Mustang, Havoc, Breda, Falman and Fuery were all standing at the gate of Edwards' house later that night.

They walked up to the front door, laughing at Fuery's expense about the incident so many years ago, where he'd been afraid of the mysterious warehouse 13. "Shutup!" Fuery exclaimed, red in the face. "At least I didn't start a huge investigation about a chicken bone!" he retorted. Mustang shutup pretty quickly. Alphonse chuckled to himself at their antics, and raised his fist to knock, the sound echoing throughout the empty streets. When he didn't get an answer he knocked again, and when no one answered him, he turned the doorknob smoothly and opened the door to the dark house.

"Brother?" He called, stepping into the house, followed by the other lot. Havoc and Breda placed their bags on the kitchen bench, the glass inside clinking gently. "Hello?"

"Maybe he's out?" Fuery suggested, looking down the hallway." Al looked through the bedrooms while the others checked the study, kitchen and dining room.

"I suppose he's out, like Kain suggested." Al said with a slight frown, when all the rooms had been proven empty.

"I found these." Havoc said, emerging from the study, holding two white envelopes, glowing in the moonlight. "I can't read the names," he said, squinting at the scrawl. "Why are the lights off? Oh." He added as Falman walked over and flicked on the light switch, instantly flooding the room with brightness. "Alphonse, Mustang." He read out, handing the letters to the said people.

"Is it just me, or did this place have more stuff last time we came?" Al asked, looking around at the now lit room. He turned at the sound of ripping paper, and saw Mustang tearing open his letter. His face darkened. "What?" Al asked at the same time as Falman and Fuery.

"It says here, that Fullmetal's been sent on an undercover mission." The relatively silent room filled with noise as they all exclaimed about that. Mustang held up a hand for silence. "But I never approved any mission." He said. "We're going to HQ to check this out." The group followed him out of the house, Al making sure to lock the door behind him.

"What're you thinking, Colonel?" Havoc asked a trail of smoke wafting behind him.

"Not anything any of you want to hear." Mustang replied, clambering into the drivers' seat and waiting for the others to squeeze into the back. He shared a glance with Al, who was sitting next to him in the passengers' seat, still clutching the unopened letter in his hand, and drove off into the night, soon arriving at the large military building.

They all followed Mustang through the halls, as he twisted and turned in the maze-like building. "Falman!" A voice called out. Falman turned and saw Scheiska standing looking at him. "What's going on?" She asked, moving towards him.

"Well, we just went to Ed's house, but he's supposedly on some undercover mission none of us heard about. But the Major General didn't approve the expedition so we're all trying to find out what happened." He explained quickly.

"What?" She exclaimed, "Ed told me that the Major General was alright with it." Falman looked in the direction Mustang and his group had disappeared to. "I need to grab something, then I'll tell you what I know." She said, ducking into her office and emerging a few seconds later, shoving a piece of paper in her pocket.

"C'mon," Falman said, running down the halls. "We'll get further with you than some rookie officer. What do you know?"

Mustang turned another corner, arriving at the desk he'd been searching for, only to find, the person who worked there had retired for the day. "Yeah that'd be right." He muttered.

"Sir!" He turned to see Falman and Scheiska running towards them.

"What is it Falman?" He asked impatiently. "Hurry up so I can throttle Fullmetal, more trouble then he's worth." He muttered under his breath. Scheiska pushed her glasses up against her nose and spoke nervously.

"He was sent on an undercover assignment across the border, sir." She said.

Mustang nearly twitched. Nearly. "Across the border? I never authorised this, how do we know it's not a setup?" he asked.

Scheiska fidgeted nervously. "Actually Ed told me that you were fine with it, so I signed the documents and processed them." She said.

"How did he even find out about it?" Mustang asked, running a hand through his hair.

"He volunteered sir. He asked for a mission that might take him away from Central for a while, so when it showed up on my desk, I offered it to him, and he took it."

"He asked for it?" Al exclaimed. "When's he expected back?" Scheiska looked down and pulled the sheet of papers out of her jacket pocket.

"I got this, just before I saw you guys down the hall, I was actually coming to ask you about it. Normally an undercover mission goes for as long as it takes to complete, or until the soldier is pulled out. They have no contact with anyone that might give their cover away, except for the officer they report to." She explained.

"Normally?" Al questioned.

"This here is a report from Ed, saying that when he got there, the culprits had already been caught. He left Friday evening." She added before any of them could ask.

"But that's not all that came with the report." Falman added, taking the paper from Scheiska and giving it to Mustang. "That there…it's his letter of resignation. For security purposes, his location wasn't revealed, and I'd say he's long gone from there by now anyway. We can't say for sure where he is. And if he waited until he was away to send his resignation, I don't think he's planning on coming back any time soon."

* * *

'_Life's tough! Get a helmet!'

* * *

_

**(1) **I can't help myself! The piano's my favourite instrument and it's kinda sorta related to the story, lol.

**(2) **I'm sorry if this info's wrong, I wouldn't know we did Vietnam in Sose not any world war stuff.

**(3) **Its sorta like the whole Ishbal thing with the exclusion of the Ishbalans because of their religion and stuff.

**I almost forgot to put this up; I've been so busy with my stupid English assignment. When am I ever going to need to know how to deconstruct a song? I mean, I get if it was in my music class but English!! And we were given like a week to make a TV show. I hate school; I want to drop out next year seriously. But I won't because I'm more brains than Braun and I wouldn't do well with an apprenticeship and because of the new law that's the only way I can leave. Stupid school. Alright I'm done complaining.**

**DoThePieFace**


	11. Father

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Father**

'_A wise man learns from the mistakes of others, a fool, by his own.'_

_-Anonymous_

Al got home late that night. He sat down on the bed softly, so as not to wake his sleeping wife, and pulled his boots off, not bothering to change. However after minutes of sleepless tossing and turning, he got out of the bed with a frustrated sigh. "Something wrong..?" Michelle asked sleepily.

"No, nothing, go back to sleep." He whispered back to her.

"Mm'kay." She replied, with a goofy smile, drifting back off into slumber. He walked to the lounge, passing Nina's bedroom on the way, a soft smile on his face as he watched the child sleep. He _should _be happy, with what he had. Some people had less. But he couldn't help feeling despondent and rejected about his brothers departure.

He sat down, and the couch sagged under his weight, and pulled the slightly crumpled letter out of his pocket. He reached over, and grabbed the letter opener from the small coffee table. And to think, he'd recently had an argument over the uselessness of the little thing, considering the small amount of letter's they actually received, and the even smaller amount of times they remembered the silver knife. The letter made a painfully loud noise in the dead silent room as he unfolded it, leaning back in the couch to read it.

_Dear Alphonse,_

_I know when you lot decided to 'surprise' me, this might not have been quite what you expected._

He knew them too well.

_I'm sorry, that I've had to leave. I'm not the greatest person with emotional words and sappy letters. All I can offer you is part of an explanation. I don't know how to explain this though, I've gotten myself into trouble, as you know, and while I've no problem with being in danger, annoying as it is, I've no wish to drag any of you into it. I don't know how long the mission I've taken will last, but once it's completed, I plan to resign from the Military. I don't plan to return. Of course I don't plan a lot of things; you always used to scold me for it. _

_When we were kids, traveling, we got in a lot of trouble. There was a lot of danger involved. I didn't like putting you in danger then, but it was a burden both of us shared, something we had brought upon ourselves. This time it's different. I've no wish to involve you in my problems._

_I realise that this might not be a good enough explanation for you. If you sent this to me, I'd throttle you until you realised that we're brothers, and as the older brother, it's my obligat – no, my responsibility to protect you. But times are different; you've got a family to care for, and a responsibility to protect them. I'm sorry, that this might not be what you or I wanted, but I don't regret my decision, because I'd rather have you safe, then selfishly put you in danger._

_I won't return until I've finished this, until I've made it right. I don't know if I'll be able to return though. Stay safe, be happy. Enjoy living with your friends and your family; don't spend all your time fretting about me._

_Goodbye._

_Love Edward._

"Idiot…" Al whispered eyes narrowed at the letter. "You _are _my family…you left, just like Dad…" He stood up, retreating to his study. He needed to sooth his nerves, and nothing did that better then his alchemy.

* * *

"I'm sorry Alphonse, but there's nothing I can do." Mustang said, his eyes closed and his head resting between his cupped hands behind his head.

"Why not?" Al asked. "You hold a high enough rank to call up a search party." He argued. The other sub-ordinates watched the argument go back and forth.

"I can't just call up a search party for someone who's not lost. Fullmetal _resigned_, which means he made this choice, which means I've no grounds to organise a search party. You've got to face the fact that your brother is only coming back here of _his own free will_. Neither you nor I can force anything on him, if this is the path he's chosen, _idiotic _as it is; then we've got to respect his decision and _keep our distance_." Mustang said firmly. Then his voice softened. "I understand this isn't easy for you Alphonse, as much as he was a pain…we all wish he hadn't left. But, there's nothing we can do." He said quietly.

"I know…I know…I only hoped." He sighed. "Never mind, thanks for your time." He turned to leave.

"Would you like to stay Al?" Hawkeye asked. "We never do anything, and the company's always nice." He smiled, but shook his head.

"No thank-you," he replied. "Michelle's got to go to work in an hour; today's my day off; so I've got to look after Nina. I'll see you around."

* * *

The man walked through the streets of Central. He was lost, but he wasn't going to admit it, and he'd lost sight of the huge building he'd been making his way towards. "No matter how long I've lived in these parts I can never remember my way around." He muttered to himself, sitting down on a park bench and taking out a map. He traced his finger along the red dotted line he'd walked down, and figured out a way to where he wanted to go. "Ah there's the Hotel, Alphons should be there; maybe I should just go with him." He said softly, and stood up on his way again, his glasses glinting in the sunlight.

He finally arrived at the Hotel, much to his joy, and saw Alphons outside, in the car park. "Alphons!" He called. The man turned.

"Ah, I was wondering where you'd gotten to." He said, smiling. "I take it you didn't manage to find the way to the building?" He asked a knowing smile in his eye. Hoenheim shook his head, his blonde hair swaying with the movement.

"Not quite, my mind's not what it used to be. Perhaps we should make the trip tomorrow, in the light of day." He suggested.

"No, we set out to make it there today, and we'll go today, we still have half the day ahead of us. C'mon get in, I'll drive." He climbed into the sleek black car, followed soon by Hoenheim and drove out of the hotel carpark, heading in the direction of the military headquarters, arriving only minutes later.

"Are you sure they'll let us in?" Hoenheim asked. "We're not military personnel, and I know how they are about those kinds of things." Alphons rolled his eyes, and stepped up the steps, followed by a sighing Hoenheim.

"You're just making excuses, I'm sure Ed will be happy to see you." Hoenheim smiled at him, but still thought a little differently. _It's not really Edward I'm worried about,_ he thought.

* * *

"Hello?" Alphons asked, opening the door to Mustang's office. "Long time no see." The group looked up at the familiar face as he opened the door wide, not yet stepping into the house. "I heard about Ed's house, I was wondering if you could tell me where he is now?" he asked after they'd all said their hellos.

"You won't find him here, Doctor." Havoc said, "He's resigned, cleared off about a week ago." Alphons's face turned curious, and another voice drifted through the door.

"Hmm, perhaps then, we should return to the Hotel Alphons." The male voice suggested. Mustang looked up from the pen he'd been fiddling.

"Hoenheim Elric?" He asked. Hoenheim poked his head around the door, and laughed slightly.

"I was hoping you wouldn't recognise my voice." He admitted. "We're looking for Edward, you've no idea where he might be?" he asked, following Alphons into the room.

Mustang smirked. "I've got ideas, but none are plausible. Alphonse is eager to find him; perhaps you'd have better luck with him."

"That's a brilliant idea." Alphons exclaimed. "And I'm sure he'd be happy to see you." Hoenheim sighed.

"Somehow I doubt it. Well come on then, I trust you got the address off Edward, you've been planning this from the start, haven't you?" He asked with a weary sigh. Alphons grinned and his eyes sparkled.

"I don't know what you mean, how could I have possibly known that Ed wouldn't be here?" He asked in an innocent voice as they walked once again out of the office. Alphons shouted thanks as they disappeared down the hall, still chatting away.

"Who was that?" Fuery asked. Looking between Mustang and Hawkeye.

"That," Mustang replied, returning to his sketch. "Was Fullmetal and Alphonse's father."

* * *

Michelle answered the door, and was surprised to see a man that looked uncannily like her husband. "Hello," She said cautiously, "Can I help you?" Alphons smiled at her, showing his white teeth.

"You must be Mrs. Elric." He said, making the man behind him start. "I'm Alphons Heiderich, the doctor that treated your brother-in-law, this here's you father-in-law. We're looking for Alphonse, is he home?" She blinked a few times, trying to process the fast string of words he'd just uttered.

"Um, Yes I am. Hello, nice to meet you. No, Al is at work…would you like to come in?" She said at last, answering the questions and statements in order. **(1)**

"Why that would be excellent." He said stepping across the threshold and waiting patiently in the hall for the other two, his eyes darting quickly from the different photograph's on the wall.

"He's had a little too much caffeine this morning." Hoenheim explained quietly, and she giggled and nodded. "I'm Hoenheim Elric, I'm Alphonse's father." He said, shaking her hand quickly. "Though I'm not sure I really deserve the title." He added with a small smile.

"Please, do come in." She invited warmly, leading them into the lounge where little Nina was playing. "Al should be home in about half-an-hour, you're welcome to stay. Can I get you something to drink or eat? Cof-water." She suggested after taking another look at the hyped up man cooing at her daughter.

"That would be nice, thank-you." Hoenheim said, and Alphons nodded in agreement, poking his tongue out at the little girl as she stared up at the man who looked so much like her father. "I suppose then," Hoenheim said, crouching down and peering over Alphons's shoulder, "that this is my granddaughter."

"Her name is Nina." Michelle said, handing him and Alphons a glass of water each, and taking the small child into her arms. "I'm Michelle. It's great to meet you both." Hoenheim nodded in agreement and acknowledgement. "She was born just over 2 months ago." She said conversationally. "Al was delighted, he loves her to bits. But…for the past week…" she said sadly, her eyes lowering slightly, as she fixed the drool sliding down Nina's chin.

"Edward and Alphonse have always been inseparable." Hoenheim said. "When they were children, and they used to play with the Rockbells daughter. Those three were troublemakers. And then, when I returned years later, only to find, they'd not been out of each other's company for more than a few days at a time for years." She looked up at him and smiled. "For Alphonse, it's as though Edward has returned from the dead, but he's come back changed. Not the way that Alphonse remembers him, not the way he's always been."

"He's a sad man." Michelle commented. "I'm not sure if they all see it, if perhaps he always been like that…"

"He was not sad. But he was angry." Mustang said, coming into the room. "Sorry, Alphonse let me in." he said, gesturing to the man behind him. "I wanted to talk to you Hoenheim. About this 'society'."

"Doctor Heiderich." Al exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?" He asked. Alphons grinned.

"I'm showing an old friend around." He said. "We came to see Ed but…" he shrugged.

Al looked to the man behind Alphons, whom he'd gestured to when he mentioned his friend. "I don't think I've met you." He said, much to the surprise of Michelle, "Are you…?" He trailed off, "Wait a minute…Dad?" he asked, brow furrowed.

Hoenheim chuckled somewhat nervously. "It's been a while, Alphonse." He said. "Not since the time your brother decked me at the Rockbell house I believe." Alphons tried to hide a snort of laughter, and indeed Mustang's smirk seemed to widen slightly.

"Alphonse hasn't memories of the time he spent in the Armor, Hoenheim." Mustang explained when Al's face turned to one of confusion.

"Ah," Hoenheim said, "Equivalent Exchange." He laughed quietly to himself. "So…I was right."

"Hmmm?" Al asked. But Hoenheim shook his head.

"Just an old man mumbling to himself." He replied. "Major General Mustang, you said you wanted to ask me a few questions. Perhaps here would not be the best place." He said, turning to look at the family, Michelle bobbing Nina in her arms, and Al looking all over confused. "Alphons," he said turning to the other young man at his side, "Our hotel room would be fit, would it not?" Alphons nodded.

* * *

"Dad..?" Mustang had left, and Alphons was asleep in one of the two rooms, leaving Hoenheim and Al in the room alone. Al's quiet voice was easy to hear in the silent hotel room. Hoenheim looked up at Al questioningly. "I've a question for you." He said.

Hoenheim was reminded of when he'd come back to Risembool to find that his children had attempted to resurrect his dead wife, and that Al had acted much the same way then as he did now. "Yes?" He answered, with another question.

Al seemed to lose his nerve, but braved the question anyway. "Why did you leave?" he asked determination in his eyes. Hoenheim sighed, and yawned.

"Your Brother asked me that once." He commented lightly.

Al sat next down next to Hoenheim. "What did you say to him?"

* * *

'_There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved by a suitable application of high explosives.'

* * *

_

**(1) **I realise that he had the day off like a few paragraphs before this one but…lets pretend there was an emergency at wherever it is he works, and she only had to go in for a couple of hours. Lol.

**Dude! Rove McManus's wife died! Oh, poor Rove! Poor Belinda (that's his wife). I realise that if your not from Oz or NZ then you more than likely don't know who Rove is but he's like my favourite TV show host. Well he hosts only one show and that's Rove Live but that's not the point. Everyone in Australia's dying bro. Like Steve Irwin, and Peter Brock, and those 2 kids that are a few years older than me and that live in my area, and that are going to cause me to get a lecture about the badness of drinking at assembly and possibly welfare tomorrow.  Apart from that I had like 4 hours of sleep last night lol, I was at a dress up party and I went as a dude and one chick was like "Who's he?" And I was like, ah yes I am Richard, but I prefer the shortened version, Dick. Lol. How'd they get Dick from Richard?**

**DoThePieFace**


	12. Of Happier Days and Brighter Times

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Twelve**

**Of Happier Days and Brighter Times**

'_Demolish the bridges behind you…then there is no choice but to move forward.'_

_-Anonymous_

Muffled noises from the outside street could be heard throughout the small apartment. The two occupants sat in silence; light flooded the small room through the window as the sun set for the day. "Your research has progressed." Hoenheim stated, and Ed nodded in acknowledgement. "But you still have a long way to go." Ed nodded once again and accepted the written on sheets of paper. "It's good to see you again." Hoenheim said, trying to start a conversation and break the silence.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Ed said, ignoring what Hoenheim had just said. "For a while now, the question has been on my mind." He looked sharply at his father, the light was reflecting off his glasses, hiding his eyes. "Did you ever love Mom?" He asked. The question didn't receive quite the reaction he'd expected, as Hoenheim merely sighed.

"I'd been expecting this to happen sooner or later." He said quietly.

"Why didn't you tell me about Dante? Or envy? When I mentioned Lyra in Risembool, it was the perfect opportunity. Was out family just a replacement, until you found someone else who sparked your interest? Was it all a game to-"

"Edward." His father interrupted, in a berating voice. Ed shut his mouth and stopped talking. "I loved your mother, more than I'd ever loved Dante, you were _not _a replacement. You and Alphonse are my sons, and nothing will change that." Ed didn't seem convinced, despite the heart in the comment.

"Then why did you leave?" He asked, eyes narrowed slightly. Hoenheim sighed, and looked out the window distantly.

"Have you had anymore trouble with the Thule Society?" He asked instead. Ed chuckled.

"Figures…" he muttered under his breath, then louder. "No, they were hardly a threat to begin with."

"You shouldn't underestimate your enemies." Hoenheim advised. "It'd be better to overestimate and be prepared." Ed stood up laughing.

"Careful now," he said, mockingly. "That sounds like _fatherly _advice. You don't know when you might decide to disappear suddenly, you shouldn't get too attached." He said harshly, heading towards the stairs.

"Edward." His father scolded.

Ed held up his hands in mock defense. "Hey, don't let me hold you back. You've got a reputation to keep."

"It's not like that." Hoenheim said in his ever calm voice. "You're being childish." Ed's face flushed with anger.

"_I'm _being _childish?_" He asked incredulously. "If you don't want to be a part of my family then I don't think I could care less. But if you're going to insist on calling me your _son_, then at least have the decency to answer my questions." He turned and stormed up the stairs. "I'll see you in the morning. Or not." He added as an afterthought.

* * *

"C'mon, hurry up. I don't want to miss the carnival."

"Yeah, what she said!" Ed clambered down the stairs to the three figures waiting at the foot of them. Alphons was tapping his foot impatiently, an irritated expression on his face. "Just because you don't like fun Ed," he said, "doesn't mean you can make the rest of us as miserable as you."

"Yeah, because Noa looks like she wants to go." He replied sarcastically, picking up the bag from next to the door, holstering it on his shoulder, and making sure to lock the door behind him as the four of them started off down towards the music drifting up from the carnival. Alphons looked at the tanned young woman beside him, who smiled softly at him. He grinned back at her.

""Course she does!" He replied, still grinning widely. "She's just happy to be with me." He put an arm around her shoulders and moved her closer as they continued to walk down the path. Ed rolled his eyes.

"We can hardly afford to feed ourselves." Ed continued to argue, "Let alone go to a carnival; they're all bloody robbers."

"Well maybe if you weren't always locked away in your study doing your research, we wouldn't need an excuse to drag you outside." The blonde girl stated smugly, taking his hand and dragging him to the carnival entry booth. Noa giggled at the blush that spread across Ed's face when she took his hand.

"Marian and Edward, up a tree," she sang, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love-"

"Shut up-" Ed warned.

"Then comes marriage-" Alphons joined in.

"-Shutup-" Marian said, but she still didn't let go of Ed's hand.

"Then comes the baby in the kissing carriage." They finished. Ed glared but his expression turned to one of worry as Alphons coughed, but he turned away from the couple, glancing briefly at his hand clasped with hers, and up to her eyes. Green met gold and the both of them blushed. **(1)**

"C'mon, let's go in already." Ed mumbled, ignoring, with great difficulty, the whispers and giggled coming from Alphons and Noa's direction, instead pulling out his wallet and paying for their admission, sighing at how much lighter it was.

"Don't worry Ed," Marian said quietly into his ear. "It's a bit of fun, we'll live. It's a depression, but no one says we can't enjoy it." Ed scoffed as she smiled encouragingly at him, and returned the gesture, waving them all in.

"C'mon, what am I? 20? And I'm taking you lot to a children's carnival, what's wrong with this picture?" Alphons laughed, slapping his hand onto Ed's shoulder.

"For once in your life Ed, stop worrying about what's wrong and _enjoy _yourself." He emphasised, going into the carnival and looking around at the groups singing and dancing.

"Ooh, come, let's get a photo." Marian said, pointing towards a man with a camera selling 'instant' photos. "There are hardly any of us all together." Ed sighed and let himself be dragged off to the photo booth. "You two are so _cute _together." Marian said to Alphons and Noa, causing them both to blush, and sending Edward a wicked grin.

She led the way with Alphons, milling through the hundreds of people, who had decided to come along for the day. They passed various stalls, with different knick-knacks and other junk, Ed having to often fend off sellers. Noa hung back with him, while the other two looked at all the items with childish glee.

"Something the matter?" She asked quietly. Ed shook his head. "Alphons is right, you should enjoy the time that you're here."

"That's just it," Ed admitted, frowning. "How much longer am I going to be here?" he asked, for which Noa had no answer, and they walked in silence, the sound of music, laughter and singing filled the air. "When I see those two having so much fun, I can't help but be reminded of Winry and Al. And of how far away they are. How I might never know…if he's even alive…" She laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You've changed since I first met you." She commented. "You're a lot quieter, and more level-headed. Maybe you can spend your entire life on these rockets, trying to find a way back, and never make it home." Ed glared at her as she picked at the bottom button of her shirt with both of her hands, but she continued oblivious. "Or maybe you'll return and it will be so much different." She looked at him with her soft brown eyes. "Or maybe you'll go home, and everything will be perfect. But there's no point in speculating. You're here now, and I understand your research is important; but, you're important to us, and for the time that you're here, could you try to be less depressing, and stop thinking about everything so much."

Ed glanced at the two ahead of them, who were trying, and failing, to hide the looks they shot over their shoulders every few seconds. Alphons coughing every once in a while. "I'll try." He answered at last. Noa's smile widened.

"Thank-you." She said softly.

"Come on Ed!" Alphons called. "You're falling a _little _behind aren't you?" He asked cheekily. Ed's face turned red. Marian giggled.

"That was stupid, I'd start running." She suggested.

"Already on it!" He called back as Ed set after him.

"Who did you say was so small; his puny legs wouldn't allow him to catch a turtle walking through peanut butter!!"

* * *

"It's interesting." Ed commented, looking at the strange piece of furniture in front of him. "What did you say it was called again?" Alphons looked at him incredulously.

"You're kidding me!" He said exasperated. "It's a piano! Pi-an-ooooo." He pointed at the thing like a madman, sounding out the word.

"I can see it Alphons." Ed replied rolling his eyes, and moving forward to inspect the strange object. "I've just never seen one before. You sure she'll like it? What does it do?" He lifted the wooden lid, after discovering the small silver hinges, and ran his fingers experimentally over the black and white keys. He pressed on one, and jumped back, letting the lid drop when it let out a sound.

"H-hey! Don't break it!" Alphons exclaimed, trying to hide his laughter at his obvious lack of comprehension, letting out a raspy cough. He pulled Ed away, who was still staring at it curiously. "Don't worry, she's wanted one for ages, she'll love it, and she can show you how it works." He led him into the kitchen and they both sat down, returning to their work. "Sometimes, when you do stuff like that, I can really believe you come from another world." He said.

"Still a skeptic?" Ed asked, raising an eyebrow. "Noa believes me, and if _she _does, why shouldn't you?" He asked. Anything else they might have said was cut off by the sound of the door shutting. And a loud squeal of delight drifted through the open doorway to the pair.

"Told you so." Alphons grinned, standing up and greeting Marian as she ran in and hugged him.

"Oh my god, you didn't!" She said, looking into his face with the same gleam in her eyes that Winry got whenever you started talking mechanics or automail. "You did!" She said again. Ed chuckled. "Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you." She said in a rush, kissing Alphons on the cheek and running over to do the same to Ed. He blushed a deep crimson, but she seemed too preoccupied to notice. "How did you know?" she asked.

"Well you've only been raving about it since forever." Alphons answered, with a satisfied grin. "How 'bout a demonstration?" He asked. "Mr. Other-worlder here's never even heard of one, let alone _heard _one being played." She turned to look at Ed, the same incredulous expression on her face as Alphons had worn moments ago.

"What? Were you neglected as a child?" she asked, "How can you not have heard of a piano?" she asked.

Ed shrugged. "Sorta." He answered.

"Really?" she asked, rather insensitively.

"My dad left when me and my brother were young, and my mother died shortly after." Ed explained. "I suppose Granny Pinako was there, but after Al and I left…" he trailed off, squirming on the spot. "So are you gonna do something with it or not."

Marian's eyes widened slightly with remembrance, and the wide grin returned. "Oh right, of course." She said. "This is the best birthday ever."

Ed could do nothing but stand shocked after she had played.

"What? Was it really bad?" she asked, concerned. Ed shook his head.

"I've never heard anything like it." He murmured, amazed. "Can you teach me?" he asked, turning to Marian, who grinned again. _She never stops grinning like a maniac._ Ed thought, as she opened her mouth and answered.

"Just call me tutor."

* * *

"You sure have changed Edward, since the last time I saw you." Hoenheim said stepping over the threshold of the rather large house Ed had recently purchased. "You're hardly a child anymore." He mused quietly. Ed grinned lopsidedly.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He said, closing the door quietly behind his father.

"I was quite surprised when I received your letter." Hoenheim said, looking around at the grand house. "Seeing as we hadn't parted on the best of terms last time."

"…I wanted _some _family at this thing." Ed offered, shrugging.

"Ah, yes." Hoenheim said, with a proud smile. "Definitely not a child." He repeated. "I heard that Marian was giving you lessons on how to play the Piano?" he asked, in a conversational tone. Ed nodded.

"She started teaching me about 3 years ago, or so. Alphons and I got her one for her birthday, and, well, we don't have stuff like that in Amestris, I even learnt how to make one, just in case…you know." He didn't elaborate on what the two of them knew, offering him some coffee or tea, and setting the hot drinks down on the coffee table between the couches.

"It's a rather big step Edward, surely you realise, that you accepting this means that you might've accepted that you'll never find a way home." Hoenheim ventured, and Ed nodded.

"I know…but…it's been 8 years. How do I know…" he smiled grimly, "anything really, I don't know anything. I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

"Forever the planner, aren't you Edward?" He asked. But his tone turned more serious. "Have you heard the rumors?" He asked. And Ed nodded.

"About the Thule Society, yeah. I'm not too concerned, I don't think they'll come after me again." He replied, swirling the liquid in his mug around disinterestedly. "I heard they're after something else now."

"Did you hear about Fritz Langue?" His father asked, eyes focused on Ed's as his head turned curiously.

"No." he ventured slowly, "What happened?"

"He was found murdered. I don't know if any of it's connected, but you can never be too careful." Ed frowned.

"He wasn't too bad, Fritz Langue; despite the fact that he looked like Fürher Bradley. It's a shame." He mused. Hoenheim drank the rest of his coffee, and turned with a smile to Ed.

"But these topics are much darker than the reason I came." He said, and Ed offered a weak smile.

"I don't know about that…" he said nervously.

* * *

The TV was the first thing that delivered the news to the group, as they stared at it, shocked. Hitler had risen to power, just that day. Promising things, promising honour for the Germans, what they had 'lost' after the war; promising to get rid of the filth that didn't belong in their country. Noa gripped Alphons's hand tightly. "No…" she whispered. "They'll make me leave." She said, burying her head in Alphons's shoulder, as he rubbed her back comfortingly, staring at the crowds shouting Hitler's name on the small TV. Ed stood up and shut it off. **(2)**

"Why would those idiot's vote for him?" He wondered aloud. He picked up the plates on the table and taking them to the kitchen sink, rinsing them quickly before joining the group in the lounge. Marian sat on the couch and he sat next to her, opposite Alphons and Noa, while Hoenheim sat on the chair in the middle.

"This is more than him just exiling the Jews and foreigners." Hoenheim said. "The Thule Society's supported him from the start, even after the trouble they had the first time, if they get enough money to start searching again…"

Ed let out a frustrated growl. "I know, I know. If they find that stupid 'dragon' they've been looking for." He ran a hand through his fringe, messing it up accordingly. Alphons scoffed loudly.

"A dragon, the entire idea's completely ridiculous." He said angrily. "That's the whole reason they never succeeded before, right? Our rocket might not have been perfected, but they wouldn't have done it without their stupid 'leviathan.'"

"It's not completely insane." Ed reasoned. "I've seen it." Alphons looked at him, with a strange expression on his face. "It's not actually a dragon; it's a homunculus that crossed over the gate with me." Hoenheim sat up straighter, staring at Ed intently.

"A homunculus?" he asked. "Which one?"

"…he came after me, for you." Ed said. Hoenheim realised what he meant by that comment.

"Give it up already!" Alphons said angrily. Ed looked at him surprised, Alphons hardly ever yelled, he was as peace-keeping as his brother, if not more mischievous. "You keep talking about that stupid other world. You're insane, it couldn't possibly exist, why you can't see that, I don't know!" Ed face changed from surprised to angry. "We've got a real problem here, not some stupid fairytale about a land that isn't real! If Hitler starts doing what he promised, what do you think will happen to Noa?!"

He suddenly began coughing violently however, and said no more, and by the time he looked up from where'd he'd fallen on his knees, all he saw was a flurry of brown as Ed put on his coat and stormed out of the house. The door slamming behind him instigated a cry from upstairs, and soon a baby could be heard, crying out. "I'll get her." Marian said quietly, quickly heading upstairs to tend to the toddler.

Alphons coughed once more, and sat back down on the couch. "You're forgetting, Alphons," Hoenheim said, once the crying had stopped, "that Edward and I aren't German citizens either." He held up a hand, stopping Alphons from saying whatever he'd opened his mouth to say. "Whether you believe our story or not, we originally moved to Munich from London." Alphons blanched. He obviously had forgotten.

"He's not taking this seriously enough." He said at last, his tone bitter. "He continues to carry on with his insane dream of returning to his brother."

Hoenheim sighed softly, "Edward doesn't take any promise he makes lightly, Alphons." He tried to explain, "He promised his mother, while she was on her deathbed, that he'd look after the both of them. Then…" he sighed again. "How would you feel, if you could do nothing but exist?" he asked. "You couldn't breath, you couldn't eat or drink, you couldn't sleep, you couldn't feel pain, you couldn't cry, you couldn't love? The only memories you had, were slowly starting to slip away? You couldn't even die?"

"What?" Alphons asked, sliding his hand into Noa's, comforting her, letting her know he was there. Hoenheim glanced at their clasped hands.

"How would you feel, if you thought yourself to be responsible for that happening to the person you cared most about?" He asked, looking up into Alphons's eyes, expectant of an answer.

"I-I'd…" Alphons struggled for words. "I'd feel horrible…I'd…I don't know; why is it relevant?" he asked finally.

Hoenheim waited a while before answering, and spoke just as Alphons was about to ask again. "When Edward and his brother were younger, they tried to resurrect their mother…a forbidden art in alchemy. Alphonse lost his body, and Edward lost his leg, he gave his arm for his brother's soul, and tied it to a suit of armor. Alphonse became the armor, unable to do anything, but exist. So they dedicated their lives to regaining what they'd lost…then when Edward was so close, he ended up here."

Marian had descended the staircase and joined them in the lounge again, listening as Hoenheim spoke. "He's still unsure, of whether his alchemy made a difference, as to whether his brother's slowly fading away in the armor, or whether he's been returned to his body, and is living in Amestris. When he sees you," he gestured to Alphons, "he sees what Alphonse might've become, had they not tried to resurrect their mother. You must forgive him for that." Alphons looked down, ashamed of his outburst.

"He told me about the girl-the woman, that I remind him of." Marian said quietly. "I understand…why he can't love me…like he loves her. Because I'm a constant reminder of what he lost; of what he left behind." Al stood up suddenly, strolling determinedly towards the door.

"Al?" Noa asked uncertainly.

"I'm going after him, before he does something stupid. I've got to apologise." He said and with a crooked grin, he stepped out into the cool night air.

"I'm going too." Noa said. Exiting as well, leaving Hoenheim and Marian, in the suddenly empty house.

* * *

Ed walked down the dark cool street, a furious pace in his step. "Bastard." He muttered quietly, his pace increasing in speed. He buried his face further in his cloak to attempt to stop the bitter wind biting at his cheeks. _Of course I realise this is a big problem._ He thought furiously.

He let out an angry growl, frightening the woman who he passed, but he paid no heed to the people moving on the street, many of them celebrating the new leader. He stepped into a dark alley and leaned against the wall. _I'm not insane am I? Surely Amestris exists…I can picture it so clearly in my mind._ He thought uncertainly.

The green fields of Risembool, the smell of Aunty Pinako's stew, the sound of Winry hacking away at her automail. Den yapping in the background, probably playing with Alphonse, and he was…where was he? Locked away in his father's study, trying to find a way to bring his mother back. He shook his head, as though that would throw off the memory.

_I never appreciated it._ He thought, his eyes burning. _I've always wanted more, I can't just be happy with what I've got. _Alphons's voice from their argument drifted back to him.

'_You keep talking about that stupid other world…it couldn't possibly exist,'_

He shivered from the cold, wishing that he'd brought a thicker coat, and brought it closer around him. Every law of science that he knew from this world went against the entire notion that another world could exist, parallel to this. Even the scientific laws from _Amestris _contradicted what he so strongly believed. Who was right, and who was wrong? _Surely it can't be both… maybe I am insane…_ Ed thought dismally.

"Out wandering so late at night?" Ed's head snapped up, he wasn't alone in the alley anymore. He recognised the person, as the lieutenant always at Eckhart's side. "Perhaps, you should come with me; it's not _safe _to be walking around all alone, so late at night."

"I don't think I will." Ed said shortly standing up and brushing past the man, only to discover that there were plenty more outside of the alley. He spun around when the man spoke again.

"I'm sorry, Edward Elric," he said, "But you don't have much of a choice." He tried to spin quickly, to fend them off, but one grabbed his arm while another sprayed him in the face with something. His vision turned fuzzy.

"You…bastards…" he said, before closing his eyes. The last thing he heard was a familiar voice call out his name.

* * *

'_If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a procedure can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.'

* * *

_

**(1) **Dude, I can't remember how the song goes lol. I think that's it, that's what we always used to say as kids anyway. Well I suppose I'm still a kid…but now they call us "Young Adults"

**(2) **Okay this is in 1933, and I realise that Hitler was only chancellor in 1933 but lets pretend he became Fürher a year earlier.

**OMG we had the BIGGEST storm today. Hail and everything and you NEVER get hail in tropical Queensland. It was so funny because all the teachers were telling us to go to one of the classes in N Block and we got caught in front of the ICT rooms and it was fully pelting the wall on both sides and the water was soaking our shoes so we're on this tiny little Island that was raised above the rest of the ground and these two teachers were on the other side and then this huge white rain-mist thing was pelting everywhere and you couldn't see anything that was too far away and the bright yellow bin toppled over and me and my friend were yelling "This is so COOL!" And I was like. "This is better than that mini cyclone we had last year that you weren't here for cause you were England." And that was my bit of excitement for the day, cause the thing eventually went away and we ended up just being soaked and locked in a classroom with like 3 other people and an angry teacher. By the way this chapter was a flashback incase you didn't get that and thank-you guys and gals so much for al your reviews!!**

**DoThePieFace (God (I mean gosh) I ramble!)**


	13. Fairytales Beyond the Gate

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Fairytales Beyond the Gate**

'_...when we finally know we are dying, and all other sentient beings are dying with us, we start to have a burning, almost heartbreaking sense of the fragility and preciousness of each moment and each being, and from this can grow a deep, clear, limitless compassion for all beings.'_

_Sogyal Rinpoche_

Ed opened his eyes groggily, slowly taking in his surroundings. He sat up, and raised a hand to his heavy head, waiting for the feeling of dizziness to pass. He looked around; lying next to him, still unconscious, were the figures of Noa and Alphons. However, even as he glanced at them briefly, Alphons began to stir, and Ed stood up.

He stood in the middle of a gigantic circle, in a huge hall that he recognised. "Dammit, not here again," he muttered. "Should've blown the place up." He studied the runes and curved lines beneath his feet, and found the design to be the same as the one he completed all those years ago, accidentally sparking the Thule society's interests. He could hear the faint noise of Alphons trying to wake up Noa, but his interest was elsewhere as a woman he recognised came into view.

"Hello," she said in a deceivingly welcoming tone. "It's good to see you again. You may wonder why you're here; no doubt you heard the news." She walked to the edge of the circle, a smile on her face.

"About Hitler?" Alphons asked viciously, helping Noa to her feet, "Yeah we heard," She smiled as though he wasn't speaking to her with anger and resentment.

"The Fürher will make this country a better place." She said, "He will help all of us, to become better citizens." Noa grasped Alphons's arm delicately.

"If you think we're going to help you with your twisted idea of a better future Eckhart, you're more insane than I thought." Despite Alphons's negative words, her smile widened. And she continued to circle them, her soft footsteps echoing in the large cavern. She stopped when she reached one of the points of the large painted star.

"My requests are reasonable." She said at last, the welcoming tone somewhat more subdued, and her body language much more demanding. "You can give _me_ something in exchange for something _you_ may desire." She looked up at them, an evil glint in her eye. "If you care about what happens to that girl there, you might think it wise, to consider my proposal." Alphons moved in front of Noa protectively, even as she tried to step out before him bravely.

"Don't you even-" Alphonse began angrily.

"And what would your demands be?" Edward asked over Alphons's angry outburst. Alphons snapped his head toward Ed.

"What?" He hissed quietly. "Don't _you_ even _think_-"

"I want weapons from Shamballa." Eckhart said simply, her shoulder's rising smoothly before drooping back down in a shrug and she turned her eyes toward Ed. "That's not too difficult, is it? Not for someone of your…_status._" she said, almost mockingly.

"And what would I get in return?" Ed asked calmly, not betraying the utter outrage he felt brewing inside of him. "Equivalent Exchange, after all."

"_You,_" she answered, "could be able to return to your home, is that not what you desire?" She said silkily. "To return home, to see your brother, to see Winry?" Ed's eyes narrowed.

"Where would you get the idea," he replied, his tone harsh, "that I had a brother?" He took a step forward. "Or that I knew a person named Winry? Where would you get the idea, that I possessed any _status_ that would allow me to gain weaponry?"

Her face remained plastered with that _infuriating_ smile; making her look like a demented child. Her eyes snapped open and the smile changed to a smirk. "_Major _Edward Elric," Ed snarled. "I understand that it may require time to regain the Military's trust, let alone be able to receive any kind of weaponry. However, someone with your _reputation_-"

"Where the hell do you get off telling _me _what I have? You've got _no _idea!" He interrupted loudly, a dangerous rage on his face. However, she was far from intimidated.

"But it's true, is it not?" She asked calmly, and Ed gritted his teeth. She nodded in acknowledgement of the lack of response. "Whether you decide that you _like _what's happening or _not,_ Edward Elric," she said in a cold cruel voice, "I'm afraid, that you don't have much of a _choice _in whether you are a part of it. We can do this the easy way, or you can make it hard for your friends, and those that may be closer to your heart."

At that moment, the large double doors to the side of the room burst open, and a man was brought before them, being led by three other beefy looking men. "Dad!" Ed called out. It was then that he heard the deep growl of anger from above his head, and the first time since waking up, that he looked to the ceiling of the room.

"Woah…" Alphons exclaimed, looking up the same time that Ed did. "It's a _fucking dragon_." Noa screamed as the thing looked down at them and lunged forward, stopping mere inches from their heads. Alphons also backed up quickly, while Ed nimbly leapt back a few steps.

"Where did you find it?" Ed asked, not addressing the thing. It snarled and snapped its jaws at Ed, unable to move any further due to the restraints holding it in its place.

"We had a reported sighting over the skies in London and were able to track him down," Eckhart replied, looking at the dragon with a glimmer of respect in her eyes.

"Him?" Alphons asked incredulously, moving forward cautiously, despite Noa's hesitant approach. "How the hell do you know if it's a _him?_"

Eckhart laughed. "Granted, he knows no German, only English, but he speaks." She explained. Alphons looked at the great beast in front of him, with an almost childish wonder.

"English, huh…" he muttered, and tried again. _"What is your name, Dragon?_" he said, speaking in the language he'd learnt over the years. The green snake-like creature turned towards the pitiful human who had spoken and answered.

"_I had a name once." _He said, breathing a foul stench upon the group, _"Hundreds of years ago, and I had a life, but this _bastard." He reared his head at Ed, snapping his jaws uselessly again, revealing the sharp rows of gleaming white teeth.

"He is called Envy," Edward answered, "and he is no dragon."

"With this magnificent beast, our dream can be realised. Shamballa is a mere stones throw away, and by fooling Hitler, I can gain the power I deserve, I will rule Shamballa, and then I will rule the world." Eckhart said, and for that instant an insane grin spread from ear to ear across her face. **(1)**

"Go ahead." Ed said, in a bored tone. The look disappeared, replaced by one of curiousness, with a hint of anger. "I'd like to see the mess your body becomes once you try to go through the gate."

The smile returned to her face, making Ed glare at her. "Do you really think I'd send myself, before I tested the theory with others?" She sent a sympathetic look towards Ed. "We could've done this the easy way Edward, all I wanted was your help to help out our great Fürher, then this country would have a leader that could bring them victory. But…if that's how you feel, then I'm afraid, I'm going to have to resort to more _drastic _measures."

"What are you planning?" Alphons asked his attention diverted from the dragon.

"Edward and his father," the dragon growled, "are the only one's that are known to have survived the trip through the gate. Even that fool with the bomb didn't survive. I'll send you in, find out how you did it, and if you don't have the uranium ready for me to create more of these weapons, then I'll destroy everything and everyone you care about." She said simply. Hoenheim was thrown roughly into the circle, and Ed moved to help him up.

The dragon above them roared as he began to be lowered to the ground. "What are you doing?" Noa asked, moving to leave the circle.

"The dragon is necessary to draw power for the journey." Eckhart explained. "However, if any of you escaped that would be most unfortunate, so he can be used as a fence as well, to keep you locked in."

"_Why don't you struggle?_" Ed asked Envy in the language he spoke. However, he received no answer and opted instead to make a run for the edges of the circle. "Don't just stand there you idiots! Move!" He yelled at Alphons and his Father. Noa having already moved away from the centre, waiting impatiently for Alphons.

"Hurry, Alphons." She called, underlying fear in her voice. However, she didn't notice the men move up behind her and grab her arms. She let out a cry of surprise as they dragged her towards the edge.

"Noa!" Alphons called, running towards her, arm outstretched.

"I've other plans for you, girl." Eckhart said with a small smile as she was dragged past, screaming for Alphons. Ed ran towards her, being closer than Alphons and attempted to attack the men holding her, only to be knocked off his feet by Envy's tail, which had enough freedom to at least accomplish that much.

"Bastard." Ed growled. Standing up again, clutching his stomach where the massive tail had bruised his skin. He lunged forward again, only to have to quickly step aside to avoid another blow from the giant creature. By this time, Alphons had reached Noa, and kicked one of the men holding her, turning to deliver a strike to the other when he came face to face with the barrel of a gun.

"Woah." He said quietly, raising his hands. Eckhart smiled victoriously as Ed and Hohenheim stopped moving.

"Al!" Noa called, "No! Leave him alone, take me!"

"Noa!" Alphons said a sense of urgency in his voice, "shhh."

"Get back in the circle." Eckhart ordered. Hoenheim, Ed and finally Alphons moved back into the circle, though considerably closer to the edge.

"What's going to happen to her?" Alphons asked through gritted teeth.

She smiled in false sweetness. "Nothing bad, if you do as you're told." The dragon reached the floor, and began to glow purple as Eckhart chanted. The circle beneath them also began to glow, and the great beast turned its head towards Hoenheim.

"C'mon, we've got to get out of here." Edward said quietly, glad for the cover that Envy's giant body provided from Eckhart's watchful eye. He grabbed Alphons's hand and began moving to the edge.

"What about Noa?" He asked fearfully, eyes wide.

"We'll get her too, but right now, we have to get out of here or we won't be able to do much at all. Dad, c'mon!" He said urgency in his voice, despite the quiet tone. The circle beneath them glowed an even brighter purple, and Ed and Alphons made a run for the dragon's side.

Ed jumped up onto the dragon's body, checking to see if the coast was clear, and helped Alphons up. "Dad!" He whispered, beckoning as Hoenheim stood entranced, staring at the creature that he'd created.

"Go." He replied, "It's time I faced my demons." Ed stared on horrified.

"No," he called. "Get out, move!" His pleas attracted the attention of one of Eckhart's minions, who had come around the corner. The guard raised his gun, and aimed it at the unaware Ed.

"Run!" Alphons said, pushing Ed off the body of the dragon, he fell to the ground with a shout, crushing the fragile arm beneath him in a shower of sparks as he hit the cold, hard stone. Alphons took off, running around the side of the dragon, as bullets flew after him, piercing the scales, and causing Envy to scream out in anger and pain.

As he sprinted around the circle, Eckhart and Noa came into view. "Insolent fool!" Eckhart called anger evident on her face.

"Al!" Noa called in worry, at the same time. "No, Alphons! Stop!" she asked of Eckhart, turning and clutching the woman's arm. She recoiled seconds later, with a gasp of fright. **(2)**

"Noa!" Al said, preparing to jump off the side, when something flew and hit him in the shoulder. Eckhart began chanting again as the dragon moved, twisting forward so he could see Hoenheim better, and behind the old man, Alphons fell; the bullet that hit his shoulder propelling him backwards into the circle.

"Alphons!" Both Ed and Noa called, Ed having stood up followed Alphons around the corner. His arm still was setting off an occasional spark. "Cheap…" he muttered darkly, pulling the thing from the socket before it lit his clothing on fire.

"No, get up! Come back!" Noa called, distraught, her voice chocked, and breaking. "No, Al! You can't get hurt! You can't _die! _I love you!" She continued crying, struggling against her captives in hysteria, "_Please_,"

Ed leaped again, trying to get back into the ring, to see if Alphons was alright, but by that time, Eckhart had finished her chant, and it was too late. Instead of becoming a part of the transmutation, he found himself standing in front of the gate, watching as Hoenheim wrestled between the teeth of the dragon to survive, and Alphons lay lifeless on its body.

He ran forward, calling out to the both of them, but as he reached the gate, it had shut closed and he beat his fist uselessly against the carved door. "Let me in," He called. "Open up! Let me go home!" But no matter how hard he tried, to pry it open, to beat it down, nothing happened and when he lowered his head and his hand in defeat, raising his eyes again, the gate was gone. And he was alone in the room that he'd disappeared from.

He looked around, in despair, and noticed the morning sun filtering in through the windows. He dared not make a sound, and instead quickly made his way out of the building, and hailed a taxi home.

However, the sight he was greeted with when he stepped out of the car, the sirens, the flashing lights, and the pile of rubble his house had been reduced to, didn't help his mood. And only when the taxi driver left, without asking the shocked man for any money, did the realization of what had happened really hit him.

They'd gone. Alphons…Noa…his father. He had come so close to reaching his dream, to returning home…he'd been in such a hurry to get back, that he'd forgotten what he would have left behind. And it was then that he spotted the ashen faces of Marian and the 3 year old girl on her lap as the doctors looked them over.

Marian spotted him, and flew into his arms, tears falling from her cheeks. "They went after you," she sobbed, "Where did you go? Everyone had gone so I went to bed, I woke up and the place was filled with smoke, I couldn't see, I was so scared." She said, and Ed rubbed her back sympathetically.

"I'm sorry," he said, taking the hand of the little girl. "I shouldn't have stormed off like that."

"What happened to your arm?" Marian asked, drawing back and bringing herself together, her fingers brushing over the port where the arm usually connected.

"Damn!" He swore, and she hit him, glancing meaningfully down at the little girl, who she picked up. "My other arms, they were all inside!" He growled in frustration. "Was anything salvageable?" Marian shook her head despondently.

"By the time the fire department arrived, the whole house was gone; I didn't think to grab anything. Can't Hoenheim make you another?" She asked rocking the tired child in her arms as her head fell upon Marian's shoulder. "What?" She asked when she saw the pained look that crossed his face. He shook his head silently.

"We need a place to stay, c'mon, I know a woman who'd give us a room until we get back on our feet." He smiled encouragingly, despite the way he felt inside, and turned to ask one of the investigators if they could call a cab for them, eventually getting a lift in the fire engine, much to the little girl's enjoyment.

They stopped outside a small bar, with the few belongings that they had managed to spare. Marian held the small girl in her arms, while Edward knocked on the door, having to put his suitcase down to do so with the one arm he had. The door opened after he knocked a few more times, and a sleepy woman answered the door. "Edward?" She asked, rubbing her eyes. "Oh my, what happened, come in." She opened the door and let the three of them inside.

"Sorry, about the late visit. Do you think you could give us a room for the night? We've got nowhere to go." He asked. She nodded turning and grabbing a room key from the board behind her.

"Of course, it's no trouble at all." She smiled at the bedraggled group. "You hardly visit anymore Edward."

Ed grinned warily. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I've been a bit busy."

"So I hear, this must be Sophia," She said, reaching out a hand to the small girl. Ed nodded.

"Just turned three," He said, following her up the stairs to the room. "We won't stay too long, I just need to find another place to live." He explained.

"Ah was yours the fire I heard about?" She asked, opening the room for them. Marian nodded in confirmation.

"All our stuff was in there. Including Ed's spare arms." Gracia glanced down at the missing arm.

"Couldn't Hoenheim make you some more?" She asked. Ed sighed.

"I'm afraid not, he…was called away…for a while." Marian sent him a curious glance.

"He always was a busy man." Gracia mused aloud, "Well goodnight, come down for breakfast at nine, I understand if you're a little late though." She shut the door behind her and Marian could hear her proceed down the stairs again. She turned to Ed, who was sitting on the bed, running a hand through his hair tiredly.

"What happened?" She questioned gently, sitting beside him, a glance at Sophia, who was sleeping on one of the beds.

"The Thule society." He replied with a sigh, and she gasped. "They opened the gate, and Alphons and Hoenheim disappeared through it. I don't know what happened to Noa." He put his hand over his face, running it through his hair again. "Damn, what are we going to do?" He asked, to nobody in particular.

"We'll figure it out, we always do." Marian said encouragingly, though she half didn't believe it herself. "Get some sleep, and we can worry about it in the morning." He nodded and lay down in the bed, with a quiet goodnight, and she went to bed after. But sleep didn't come to either of them quickly.

* * *

"_Alright! I'll do it!" The voice echoed around the large cavern. "You win," it said in defeat. _

"_No!" A female joined in. "Don't be an idiot, please! Don't do it!" However the man had already been taken out of the room and the desperate woman grabbed her child close to her as she was returned. _

"_Mama?" She asked, "Where's daddy going?" And the woman could do nothing but sob despondently into her daughters shoulder as she wrapped her arms around her mother, trembling in fear._

"_It'll be alright." The woman repeated, like a mantra, holding the child to her, rocking the both of them backwards and forwards as the people around her celebrated their victory. "We'll figure it out…we always do."

* * *

_

Noa pulled her hand away from the sleeping man and moved unsteadily back to her seat on the train. "Anything?" Eckhart asked her, sitting next to her, and across from Ed. Noa shook her head, and folded her hands across her lap.

"Only memories," she replied, looking out the window, and in the distance she could see their destination. The large city of Grand Central. Eckhart smiled, and there was something not right about it.

"It's only a matter of time now." She said, and Noa looked back at her, then out the window again, used to the crazy expression she wore. "This world will be mine." Eckhart glanced at Ed's sleeping form, as he turned slightly in his sleep. "All thanks to you."

* * *

'_The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.'

* * *

_

**(1) **What is a story without a homicidal maniac who wants to take over the world?

**(2) **Wow! What did she see? I've no idea, and I'll forget entirely that I even wrote that she might have a _possibility _of seeing something.

**Incase any of you were getting confused, the start of this was a flash-back of sorts and the last few paragraphs were present day where the story left off kind of stuff. Thought I'd clear that up incase it was confusing. Thank you all for your continuous support, I really didn't expect to get this much feedback – and you can criticise by the way, I'd love to hear ways that anyone thinks I could improve – and I try to reply to most of the reviews. **

**DoThePieFace**


	14. All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**All Dressed up with Nowhere to Go**

'_Don't fly into the sun,_

_Your wings will melt and you'll come down,'_

_Never Say Never,_

_Fisher_

The next few weeks had turned up with a few surprises. After confronting Hoenheim and Alphons, they had agreed to reveal many of the details of Edward's stay in the world beyond the gate to Mustang and the gang, Al included of course. Hawkeye had finally decided to take time off from work, on maternity leave.

The unexpected visit from Al's old alchemy teacher had enticed both fear and happiness. As well as worry about her current predicament; confined to a wheel chair. She had demanded to know what Al had been told, and so over one of his wife's home-cooked meals, with the four of them sitting around the table, Sig, Izumi, Michelle and himself, he had relayed what he'd been told.

For the first few years of Ed's time in the machine-world, he'd traveled looking for someone who sounded like they knew what they were doing with the rockets, and it was there that he had met Alphons. He'd taken an instant liking to him, obviously because of the close appearance he shared with the brother he had been separated from, and had assisted the group in the creation of their rocket.

It was through that that he had traveled through the many countries of Europe, mainly as a tag-along or overseer. They'd gone to many different carnivals to promote their cause, and it was at one of those that the two of them had met the gypsy named Noa. Although Ed had already told Al of the amazing talent the gypsy possessed, Al hadn't noticed that Alphons and his father had neglected to mention it and Al told Izumi of the way she could see into someone's mind by only touching them; with childlike wonder on his face. He missed the opposite look that flashed across hers.

Noa had moved in with Ed and Alphons, after Ed had saved her from the people that she had been sold to, and despite the many people telling them to throw her back out on the street, she continued to live with them after she was free of danger. However, the stunt had attracted unwanted attention from the Thule society for Ed, and when they discovered that he was Hoenheim's son, a former associate of theirs, they wanted the information they knew he held. So they'd offered Noa a deal.

They needed three things to get to 'Shamballa' the mysterious world where the superior 'Aryan' race resided, a place bereft of war and violence. The first was a way to open the gate; the second, a way to overcome the phenomenon within; and the third, information on the country they were about to invade. They planned to use a great leviathan to open the gate; the rocket Ed and Alphons had helped to design to pass through; and Noa to extract the information from Edward.

But things had not gone to plan. The green dragon, later revealed to be Envy, bereft of his shape-shifting abilities in that strange world, managed to escape from them with the help of a man named Fritz Lang, whom Ed had mistaken for Fürher Bradley. The rocket that they had designed was defected, and when tested it didn't launch. And Noa wouldn't help them to gain the information from Ed.

They had set the launch date on November 8th, the same day that Hitler and his group had planned to overthrow the government, and when that attempt failed, the leader's of the society were arrested along with Hitler and the other members of his group. The group dispersed, and no one heard of them for years.

After that incident Ed became more absorbed in his work, helping out with the rockets like he hadn't before. A friend of Alphons's, Marian, moved in with them to keep Noa company; a person Alphons recognised to be the alternate version of Winry. Hoenheim and Ed settled their differences, and put the past behind them. For the next few years, until the beginning of 1933, the four of them had gone without many mishaps, and no word of the society. But at the beginning of February, rumors began to spread. Hitler's popularity began to grow and Fritz Lang, a powerful Jew, was discovered dead.

Shortly after that Hitler had been voted into the government as Chancellor, and his long term support for the Thule Society gave them more power. Alphons had recalled that although for many Germans it had been a cause for celebration, for their small group it had been horrible news. Hitler promised what many people in Germany wanted: the foreigners; gypsies and Jews, out of the country, including Noa, Hoenheim and Ed.

The doctor hadn't specified what the argument that had caused Ed to storm out in a rage had been about, but denied Mustang's guess about his height. He alluded to the fact that he'd said some things he'd regretted and he and Noa had followed Ed down the street, only to find him surrounded and passed out. The next thing he remembered the three of them had woken up in a huge room, and Eckhart had shown up.

She had revealed to them that she _knew _Amestris wasn't Shamballa, but she wanted the power that they held. She wanted to use Ed's status as a State Alchemist to gain staff to mine Uranium, which he had said was a key element in a weapon that she wanted to use to overthrow the new government and rule it herself. The weapon itself, which after Hawkeye had dug out the mission report, was found to be one that Ed and Al had gone to investigate on the information of the scientist who invented it. The report said, seeing as neither of them could confirm it, that the man had attempted Human Transmutation and disappeared without a trace, the bomb and all.

Ed didn't agree to create the bomb however, and she resorted to using hostages, dragging Hoenheim into the building. She had trapped them in the transmutation circle, using the dragon she'd relocated, as a fence. Only Hoenheim was trapped inside when the circle had activated, and after Alphons had pushed Ed out of the way of a bullet, he'd ended up getting shot himself trying to save Noa, who had been his Fiancé for almost a year and half while they saved for a wedding. Hoenheim and Alphons had disappeared through the gate, Ed had said he didn't know what happened to Noa, and his arm had broken. He had returned to his home, only to find it had been burnt to the ground, and he and Marian moved back into the old inn, run by the kind woman named Gracia.

Alphons had been surprised to find that her alternative was a good friend of theirs, and had said that that would explain why Ed always acted like he knew her better. He was even more surprised to find that she had married the alternative of Officer Hughes; someone who he knew had an obvious infatuation with the innkeeper. He had missed the somber looks on the groups faces as he'd wondered aloud at this. And Al wondered curiously to his teacher about the man he'd known.

"You'll remember someday Alphonse," she said quietly, having finished her meal long ago. "It may just take, a little longer." Al smiled at her.

"Some of it's coming back," he admitted, "When Ed told me what we'd been doing, I could picture some of it, it's there just within my grasp, yet always out of reach." He frowned slightly. "I wonder sometimes if I remembered if Ed would tell me what's going on in his life. I wonder if maybe he'd have stayed."

Izumi sighed. "Something's cannot be helped," she said, "Edward would've gone, had you remembered or not." She saw the fire in his eyes as he looked back up at her.

"How can you guarantee that?" he asked, anger evident in his tone, an accusing glare sent her way. She held his gaze, and kept a level head, and a level tone.

"He came to see me," she stated calmly, "on the way back from some trivial mission. He told me of you daughter's birth. About his hospital visit, and a little more, about where he's been, and what he plans doing." She said calmly. "He would've left, either way." Al stood angrily, and the chair he had been sitting on slid backwards, falling to the floor with a loud clatter.

"Apparently everybody knows something but _me._" He said angrily. He ignored the shocked look on Sig and Michelle's faces from his extremely uncommon outburst and turned to Izumi. "What did he tell you teacher?" She turned away, a silent look on her face.

"I can't say." She said her voice still calm and still.

"Why not!" He replied.

"I made a promise," She said, staring into Al's eyes. He held her gaze and spoke again.

"Everyone keeps telling me how close we were, but I'm finding it hard to believe." He said his voice frighteningly calm. "If he wants to leave, then let him. If he doesn't want to tell us anything, if he doesn't care if we're informed then _screw _him! Because I don't care either!" He turned away and wouldn't meet eyes with any of them, and Nina began to cry. "That bastard." **(1)**

"Alphonse Elric!" Michelle scolded angrily. "That's enough!" It was one of the most colorful words he ever used, and he never used them when speaking of his brother. "I don't want my daughter growing up with that kind of language." She had a fire in her eyes that rivaled the angry look in his. She picked up the small child and rocked her in her arms, until the crying subsided, and then she turned her attention back to her still fuming husband. "This is difficult for all of us," she said, and there was something in the sentence that made him deflate, "I can't say I know your brother very well, but from what I've seen he's an honest, caring, intelligent man."

"Are you really that moronic?" Izumi barked at him and he turned to look at her. "I thought I taught you better? You and I both know Ed's an idiot for doing this alone, and what's the only reason your brother's ever done something idiotic?" She asked, but the question didn't need to be answered. They all already knew the answer. "He'd do it for you, for those he cares about. You really think this is over some trivial thing? Are you that _blind _that you can't see what's happening?" However she got no further before her illness caught up with her and she began coughing furiously.

"Izumi!" Sig called, moving towards her and getting her medicine out of his pocket. After rubbing her back for a few moments she sat up straight and assured him she was alright, she turned back to Al and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Edward's in trouble. He didn't tell me what kind of trouble; only that he plans to fix it. But when Edward actually _plans _something…I don't know what to expect, only that he can't do this alone, and that we _all _need to help." Al looked around the room, at the people he cared about, and realised that he was angry with the one person who he missed the most. He turned back to Izumi, smiled and nodded. "I know I said to him that I wouldn't repeat what he told me, and had he done something less stupid I wouldn't be relaying the information to you lot…but you need to know." She said firmly, and they all sat back down and she told them a story. **(2)**

_

* * *

It was rare, to see the rain pour down so hard in the hot southern city of Dublith. The rain was a welcome relief from the constant hot, dry weather that was expected. It reminded him of the time they had stayed on Yock Island. It had rained pretty hard then. Ed walked through the rain, almost oblivious to it's stinging lash, to the familiar building in the distance. The drops falling from above provided more warmth than the thick coat he wore. He knocked on the door and heard the shuffle of feet. The door opened and a huge man greeted him, a look of surprise crossing his face. "Edward." He acknowledged, and then the look disappeared, to be replaced by one of sadness. "I'm afraid…you may not be in time."_

"_Nonsense!" A voice called from inside. "I'm not dead yet!" Sig moved aside to make room for Ed and he entered the dim house. He saw his teacher looking older than he'd ever seen her and deathly sick, sitting upright in the bed, a book in her hand._

"_Teacher…" He began._

"_Sig," She said, and he nodded, leaving them alone in the room. "I'm glad to see you're okay, Edward." She said, "How long have you been back?" Her voice was considerably weaker than he remembered. _

"_A…a few months…4 or less I think." Ed replied, his voice hoarse._

"_And you didn't come to see me?!" She demanded. Ed gulped, this woman still scared him. So he thought before answering._

"_I'm here now." He replied cautiously. She smiled._

"_Indeed you are," she said, "But I believe there's more reason behind this visit then a 'hello'."_

"_I…" He looked at her with such desperation and pleading for her to understand; knowing that she would understand, that her heart wrenched._

_She understood _that_ look._

_She looked down at her hands and opened her mouth to speak, but coughed instead. Ed was by her side in an instant, offering her a tissue from her desk. She took it and thanked him, sitting up straighter. "I'm dying, Edward." She said softly, and Ed nodded._

"_I know." He replied rubbing her back._

"_They say one of the worst things a parent can go through is losing a child." She said. Ed drew back, she looked at him with fierce eyes. "But sometimes it's worse to see them in pain." Ed felt a lump in his throat and his eyes burned. He took a steadying breath. "Tell me why you're here." She whispered gently._

"_Teacher…I can't use alchemy." He admitted. She touched his hand and he looked up at her. "I'm afraid," he whispered, it evident in his eyes._

"_That's not why you're here." She replied. And suddenly, the 30 year old man wasn't standing before her, the strong teenage boy, caring for his brother was gone. The orphan boy, broken, cold, lonely and frightened was asking her for help._

"_What if I can't save him..?" Ed asked, his voice taught._

"_What happened?" Izumi asked. "Tell me everything." _

_And just like all those years ago, he did. "I couldn't save her..." he replied, and that was all he needed to say. She got out of the bed, as well as she could, and pulled him into a motherly embrace. "I wasn't strong enough…I couldn't save her..." he repeated, clutching at her dress._

"_Don't hold back." She whispered, and she felt her shoulder dampen, both from his rain soaked clothes and his salty tears. He began to shake in her arms, and what started as hiccups for breath, turned into heart-wrenching sobs. "Don't hold back."_

* * *

She turned and twisted to look at herself from all angles in the mirror. She had to admit the dress was stunning. "And who said my mother had lost her taste in fashion?" A harsh bark of laughter followed the statement and she moved so she could see the reflection of the man who had spoken.

"Your mother had lost her mind, that's what she lost," Another muttered, causing the first to snarl in annoyance.

"Who asked you pipsqueak?" However the other didn't reply and the first left the room, leaving the two of them alone. She liked the dress herself, but a second opinion was always welcome.

"What do you think of it Edward?" She asked, turning around to face the moody blonde. He was always moody these days, brooding, snapping at anyone, never seen without a constant frown on his face. She missed the days when they used to laugh together.

"All dressed up with nowhere to go," he said with a smirk and a mirthless laugh.

"Why must you always look at the glass half empty Edward?" She asked crossly, picking up the folds of the dress, and letting them brush around her feet.

"Why must you always look at the glass half-full?" He asked mockingly. She sighed.

"There are still so many beautiful things in this world," She said, and he laughed again, a dry unhappy laugh.

"None of them are down here. You can dress up as much as you want Noa, nobody down here cares, and no one's ever going to see. Give it up, and realise that you're being played. If you can't then that's your loss, it's no skin off my ass." He walked towards the door, and closed it behind her, leaving her behind and alone.

Noa huffed crossly and turned back to the mirror. _She _liked the dress, _she _cared. She twisted the glinting ring that she kept on her finger, despite the fact it had been three years now since she'd last seen her fiancé. Despite what Edward said she liked to be optimistic.

* * *

"Oi! Shrimp." Ed cringed and whipped around. 

"What?!" He snarled angrily at the Homunculus who had come to annoy him. Envy held up his hands mockingly.

"Relax midget," he said, and Ed grinded his teeth so loudly it would've made anyone cringe; anyone other than Envy that is, he merely smirked. "Watserface, y'know lead lady, I always forget her name. Anyway, she says I'm to escort you on a trip to the wonderful city of Grand Central." Ed didn't miss the sarcasm he enunciated on the word wonderful, but his expression turned curious as well as suspicious.

"What? What d'you mean we're going to Grand Central; and escort? I don't need an _escort."_ He asked noticing Eckhart approach.

"Don't you want to go?" She asked, a small smirk adorning her features. "Fine, never mind then." Her smirk widened as he replied impatiently.

"I never said that, what's with the sudden act of – well the attempt at an act of kindness?" He asked, and an eyebrow rose. "And cut around the crap."

"Ever the patient one Edward," she said, ignoring his angry glare, "if you must know Noa requested you take a break, I do know how you hate being cooped up,"

"More like how I hate the company." Edward muttered but she ignored him.

"However, I can't trust you not to go and tell someone something we don't want them to know, so Envy is to go with you." Envy grinned and waved at him when Ed turned his head in his direction. "Would you like to go?" She asked. He didn't quite trust the motives behind the offer, but all the same he was convinced at the word escort, however horrible it sounded.

"Fine." He growled at last. "When are we leaving?"

* * *

'_There are two kinds of pedestrians, the quick and the dead.'

* * *

_

**(1) **Hey, you'd be pissed too, not even Alphonse is immune to anger.

**(2) **Gasp! She broke the promise she stated like 3 paragraphs earlier or something.

**I'm so excited! Only 6 days until the end of school! I actually have a countdown in our school diary – so far I've been there for about 110 days because I took some off, Muahahahaha the fine art of faking a sicky – but that's only for this semester. The bad thing is all my assessments are due in the next week and a half. Three of which are tomorrow. I should really do something about that. But I got my yearbook! And my sisters vice-captain (nerd) (no offense to the vice captains/captains) and so she came and took a photo of my group and it's in the "Here's some of our grade 10 students" thing and me and my friends look like tools lol. Anyway I was gonna put this up this morning…but I forgot so my bad. OMG I think new episodes of house are on tonight Wooh! And I think – but I'm not sure – that the FMA movie came out on the 14th. Where I live. But I haven't seen/heard anything so they're probably messing with me. I should really start filling these author notes with story-relevant information.**

**DoThePieFace**


	15. Market Mayhem

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone **

**Chapter Fifteen **

**Market Mayhem **

_'There is always some madness in love, but there is always some reason in madness.' _

_-Anonymous _

Al woke up, rubbing his eyes blearily. He looked around and noticed that Michelle was already out of the bed and the sun was shining in through the windows. He jumped out of the bed and ran into the kitchen, grabbing a towel on the way. "Why didn't you wake me?" He asked Michelle as he ran into the kitchen, saying a quick good morning to Izumi and Sig.

"Pardon?" Michelle asked, watching with amused eyes as he rushed around the room, gathering his cloak and other clothes he'd left there last night. "Honey, it's a Saturday." Al stopped and slowly turned a shade of red.

"Oh," he said, "that's why." Izumi laughed quietly at him as he put the things back and hung the towel over the back of his seat, sitting down and watching his teacher make faces at Nina.

"We we're just talking about when you'd finally wake up." Michelle commented, putting a plate of toast before him and sitting beside him with her own. "We thought we'd take a trip into the city, it's been a while since I've gone to the markets and I thought with Izumi here, we could take her." Al grumbled.

"You'll find any excuse to go to those markets and drag me along to carry your shopping." He said, crunching on his toast, rolling his eyes as she nodded. He finished his breakfast and headed to the shower. They were all ready to leave an hour later. He picked up Nina while Michelle tried to fix the pram as the walked down the street; Sig pushing Izumi in her wheelchair. "So what have you been doing teacher?" He asked, mainly out of curiosity.

"Nothing much you _can _do in a wheelchair." She answered, and he scolded her for being so negative.

"There must be something." He asked.

"What about Wrath dear?" Sig asked, turning to look at Al. "He visits us, quite a lot now." Izumi smiled softly.

"Yes, I suppose he does. He's off in Risembool now, getting that Automail of his checked on." Al slapped his head, drawing a curious glance from Izumi, Sig and Marian.

"I haven't called Winry in ages." He said, sighing. "I keep meaning to, and then keep forgetting. I haven't even told her Brother left." Izumi glared at him.

"Didn't see the need to tell me either." She commented.

"For the last time I'm sorry!" Al said, waving his arms. "I suppose I'll call her when we get home, or I suppose you'll take forever shopping, I could do it then." He said nodding his head in Michelle's direction. She merely smiled at him.

* * *

The streets of Grand Central were crowded, that was for sure. "Why are we here?" The man asked. He had short brown hair and startling green eyes, which were narrowed at the passing people. 

"You don't have to be, I don't need a baby-sitter." The other replied, turning back to look at him. "Oh, you finally changed. I was beginning to think you'd walk around Central looking like a palm tree." He commented mildly. Envy merely smirked.

"Jealous, little brother?" He asked, and Ed snarled.

"No I believe that's _your _job." He replied harshly, and Envy's smirk disappeared. They had walked straight into the markets before Envy spoke again.

"So are you going to _visit_ anybody?" He asked grumpily, weaving his way between the crowds.

"Who am I supposed to see? Mustang? Al?" Ed asked dryly. "Not with you tagging along." He stopped and looked around, at the bustling crowds.

"Well then what _are _we going to do?" Envy asked, also coming to a halt. "Stand here and watch the people walk by? Because watching pitiful humans is one of my favourite pastimes." He said sarcastically, sneering at one woman who looked at him oddly when he said this.

"I was going to go the library." Ed replied angrily. "But I just realised that without my watch, they're not going to let me in. So I suppose I'll drag you around to all the bookstores with me." He grinned wickedly in Envy's direction, which he missed due to the fact that he was turned away, and headed off in the direction of the main shops.

"Oi! Pipsqueak!" He yelled, finally realizing that he'd walked away. "Tell me before you head off somewhere."

"Don't call me pipsqueak!" Ed retorted angrily. "And it's not my job to watch you, so don't blame me if I try to give you the slip." However the reply to being called short had attracted the attention of a familiar person. He turned his head towards the pair, and followed them into the quiet bookstore they'd chosen.

"Ed?" He asked, coming up to the two of them, and Ed looked up from his book in surprise, while the person he was with merely rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath.

"Russell?" Ed asked, and then grinned slightly. "Fancy seeing you here."

Russell returned the grin, but with more enthusiasm. "I read about you in the newspaper," he said, "Fletcher and I are coming to visit Al, heard he had his kid." Ed nodded.

"Yeah, she would've just turned 3 months I think." He said, frowning in thought. "Actually…I wonder what Hawkeye's doing about hers…"

"Huh?" Russell asks. "You've lost me. You wanna come over now; I was on my way there." Ed shook his head, suspiciously quickly.

"Nah, I've been staying with them for the past week, I'm heading back to Risembool today." He lied, "My train leaves in about 2 hours, I've forgotten to pick up some stuff for Winry." The lie came surprisingly easy, and it must have been convincing, because Russell didn't question it.

"How 'bout some lunch with Fletcher and me then?" He asked, pointing outside. "I know a little place we can go. I haven't seen you since you took my dad's research log and disappeared in the chapel. It'll be good to catch up." Despite the light offer, it took Ed a moment to think about, and after a glance at his companion, who was still standing around sulking, he closed the book and placed it back on the shelf.

"Yeah, alright." He said. Russell looked curiously to the man traveling with him.

"Who are you?" he asked, not impolitely.

"Oh," Ed said quickly, "sorry, this is Mabuse." He said, using the first name that came to his head. "Mabuse Lang." Russell shook his hand briefly. **(1) **

"Russell Tringham." He replied.

* * *

"So what have you been up to?" Ed asked when they were sitting in the small café, Fletcher having joined them, sporting a small goatee and a huge grin. 

""I'm a State Alchemist now," Russell announced, and Ed raised an eyebrow. "Don't have to pretend to be you anymore," he laughed, "of course with you disappearing and all I wouldn't have gotten away with it anyway."

"We work over in the west." Fletcher said, "There's a lot of work there."

"Are you with the state too?" Ed asked, but Fletcher shook his head.

"Nah, he's a real nature freak." Russell said, and Fletcher kicked him. "I mean he works with trees and animals, real important stuff." But Ed didn't miss the amused sarcasm n his voice, and neither did Fletcher, kicking him again. He saw Russell's gaze fall on the one Ed had dubbed 'Mabuse' and he raised a curious eyebrow at Ed. "Does your friend want to join us?"

Ed shook his head and made a face. "Friend?" He said disbelief in his voice. "Hell no, we'd probably get in an argument. Bastard…" he added under his breath. "What?"

Russell looked at him strangely. "Then why are you hanging out with him?" He asked.

"He's someone I work with." Ed replied, somewhat bitterly.

"Is he an Alchemist?"

Ed laughed. "Hell no, couldn't do alchemy if his life depended on it." He spared a glance in Envy's direction, and he glared and smiled evilly in return, the Tringham brothers exchanging glances. "There's a long story behind that." Ed offered, as a sort of explanation. "Sort of an old family feud still standing." He muttered.

"So what, he's just a normal soldier?" Russell asked getting confused himself at Edward's confused expression. "Well you said you worked with him."

"Oh," Edward said in realization. "I'm not with the military anymore. Resigned a few weeks ago." They weren't too surprised to hear that, seeing as Ed had always hated the military, and once their lunched arrived the time flew by. Envy stalked over to the table once they had finished their meal.

"Oi, pipsqueak." He said, and Russell tried not to smile at Ed's irritated twitch. "We've got a train to catch, remember?" He said, in an unconvincing tone. Ed sighed and got up.

"I s'pose he's right." He said, and Envy began towards the door. "I'll see you around, maybe." He said, and followed Envy out onto the street, the two of them not saying anything. "May as well head in the direction of the train station now." Ed said, and began walking away, Envy following, still sulking.

"How much longer do you plan on staying pipsqueak?" Envy asked after a while.

"An hour, for every time you call me pipsqueak." Ed replied sarcastically.

"You took all year to sit and have lunch with those two," He said, crossing his arms.

"Forever the jealous one aren't you? Then again I suppose it fits…" Ed muttered, a smirk adorning his face.

"Shut up, it's bad enough I have to stay with you all day, you don't need to _talk._" But Ed didn't quit, he plowed on as though he hadn't heard Envy.

"Jealous of my friends, jealous of my brother, jealous of my mother, father, jealous of my _life_. I really think you need a new hobby." He said conversationally, ignoring the look of pure rage building on Envy's face. "Although I suppose there's not much else you can do. Your mother's _insane_, all your little homunculus buddies are dead or don't like you. I suppose there isn't much else to do but dwell on the thought that your father created a monster like you, and then left you, for something better." He shrugged as though it were a normal conversation. "Left you for his _perfect_ wife, and his _perfect _sons, for his _perfect _life."

"If it was so _perfect _then why'd he leave you too?" Envy snarled.

"Then I suppose you'd ponder on why, if his life there was so perfect, that he'd leave them too. And I suppose you'd feel a little vindicated in that fact. But then you've gotta ask yourself, why'd he come back, even if just to see how they're going. He never came back to you."

"If you valued your life you'd shutup now." Envy threatened. But Ed continued to taunt him.

"I suppose the realization would have to dawn on you sooner or later. You're just not_ good_ enough. You just can't measure up. All you are, is a _worthless, pathetic, pitiful excuse _for a so-" Envy lost his temper, and before Ed could finish venting his anger on him, he punched Edward squarely in the jaw, causing him to go flying into one of the market stands, the place crashing around him.

He jumped back out of it reasonably quickly though, a mad grin on his face as he pressed a hand to his jaw shortly. "I've just been _waiting _for an excuse to punch you all day." He said, and lunged at the enraged homunculus, the two of them engaging in a fierce battle in the middle of the market place. Soon they found themselves surrounded by a circle of people.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Envy snarled angrily.

Ed merely smirked as he dodged another blow, careful not to get too close to the surrounding people. "Oh, poor wittle Envy, the truth hurts, doesn't it?" He asked, causing Envy to let out another growl of anger and lunge at Ed.

"I'll murder you, you stupid bastard!" He yelled, and the crowd seemed to give them even more space. Ed managed to kick Envy in the stomach and the homunculus slid back, crashing into another strand. Ed laughed.

"Bring it on."

* * *

They'd been at the market for a good 2 hours now, and Al was starting to get worn down. "Can we leave yet?" He complained, carrying two of Michelle's bag, which he noticed was a lot less than what she normally bought. 

"How about we stop for some lunch?" Michelle asked instead, pointing out a restaurant across the road. Al sighed in relief and accepted the proposal before anyone else could say anything. But just as they began to head over, a large crash was heard. Al's head snapped towards the sound and he could see some people moving away from where the noise had come from, and a lot more people moving towards it.

Nina began to cry, and Izumi picked her up quickly, and she soon quieted down. "What was that?" Michelle asked a soft worry in her tone. Izumi turned her head towards the gathering crowd.

"Sounds like a fight." She said, hearing the noises of people yelling.

"I'll murder you, you stupid bastard!" The sentence was hard to distinguish, but the anger in the voice made the meaning clear. Alphonse's brow furrowed and Izumi echoed his thoughts.

"That voice…sounded familiar." She said slowly.

"It's almost as though I heard it a long time ago." Al said, and began moving towards the crowd.

"Alphonse!" Michelle called, and Sig wheeled Izumi after him.

"Go to the restaurant Michelle, we'll be there soon, alright?" He called back to her, and another crash was heard. He quickened his pace and pushed his way through the crowd. "Excuse me, what's going on?" He asked one of the people standing beside him.

"A fight," the bloke answered, "Apparently one just punched the other for no reason." Al pushed his way towards the front, his teacher and Sig having to stay behind because of Izumi's wheelchair. However what he saw when he got there made him stop where he was. The two of them were yelling at each other as well as hitting, but Al couldn't distinguish what they were saying. He heard a shout come from behind him in the crowd.

"Move!" the voice yelled. "I'm a State Alchemist, get out of my way!"

"Finally someone got here." The woman next to him said, a hand on her chest as she watched the two of them fight. "This behaviour is just barbaric. There are children around." The Alchemist got to the front of the group, pushing past Alphonse, and doubling back to look at him before he ran forward and separated Ed and Envy. "Why isn't he in uniform?" The lady asked again.

"It's my day off." Russell complained, pushing the two of them apart. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked angrily. "When you said you'd probably get in an argument I thought an exchange of unpleasant words might be a reasonable expectation, but _this?" _He pushed Ed away, and held Envy back. "A little help would be appreciated." He said, and Fletcher came out of the crowd, but Al beat him to Ed.

"Brother." He said and Ed stopped fighting. A look Al didn't want to see crossed his face when he realised that it was his brother standing in front of him. "Do you really not want to see me that badly?" He asked in a quiet voice, letting his hands drop. Envy had stopped struggling as well, and was sporting an annoying smirk.

"Alright, go away!" Russell called, "Go away or I'll have you all arrested." He threatened, glaring at them, and the crowd slowly dispersed. "I don't believe you." Russell said, turning to Ed. But he didn't say anything more when he saw the two of them standing there not saying a word to each other. "Is there something I'm missing?" He asked carefully, and Fletcher came to stand next to him.

"C'mon pipsqueak." Envy said stepping forward. "It's time we headed back anyway." Ed didn't like the victorious smirk on his face.

"Hey, are you going to pay for this?" The man whose stalls had been smashed turned angrily towards the pair. "You break it, you bought it." Ed still didn't say anything, and Izumi wheeled herself forward.

"I'll fix it," she offered, and clapped her hands together, pressing them to the stalls, one by one. They stood there, like nothing had happened. However, in the silence that followed sirens could be heard, and a few seconds afterwards a black military car pulled up, and Havoc stepped out, looking around.

"I thought there was a fight we were meant to come and stop." He said, then spotted Al and Ed and headed towards them, Breda hopping out and coming after him. "Do I want to know what happened?" he asked, not appearing too shocked at Ed's appearance.

"Dumb and dumber decided to have a fist fight in the middle of the marketplace." Russell said, pointing to Ed and Envy, and Havoc turned to them. He sighed.

"Despite the fact that I know you Ed, I'm gonna have to take you down to the precinct." **(2) **

"What!?" Ed exclaimed, finally saying something. Havoc held up his hands.

"It's the law, I'm gonna have to take the both of you in, maybe next time you can keep your temper under control." Havoc said shrugging, and gesturing to the car. "Can you just get in?" He asked, hoping that it would be easy. "You'll be out again by tomorrow morning if we can sort this out."

"He punched me!" Ed cried outraged pointing a finger at Envy.

"If you'd have shut your mouth I wouldn't of." Envy replied darkly.

"You only cared because I was right." Ed snarled. "If it wasn't true you wouldn't have cared, and you're getting angry now because I'm right again." Envy growled angrily, but didn't attack, trying to prove him wrong.

"You weren't right." He denied, "You're voice is enough to make anyone want to punch you."

"Don't start again." Havoc warned, "Jut get in the car, you can fight in the cell."

"I don't think so." Envy retorted turning to Havoc, and Havoc looked with a raised eyebrow towards Ed. Ed sighed, his shoulders heaving.

"Sorry, Havoc. I've got to go," However even as he began to turn Al grabbed his shoulder tightly.

"No." He said, and Ed looked at him with surprise on his face. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on." When Ed didn't say anything, and Havoc and Breda began to move forward he spoke again. "Teacher told me…" Al said so only Ed could hear, and he smiled sadly.

"I expected her to." He looked up at Alphonse, at the anger in his eyes, and realised that a long time ago, their positions would probably have been reversed. "I think maybe…its best…if you just forgot about me." He said quietly.

"What!?" Al said, in utter disbelief. "Are you serious?" When Ed didn't reply he let go of his arm. "…oh my _god…_you're serious." He said his eyes wide. "I don't even know you anymore." Anything else he might've liked to add however was cut off by Ed's quiet reply, before he took off running, Envy only a second after him. Havoc and Breda pulled their guns out of their holsters and aimed them at Ed and Envy.

"Don't make me do this Boss." Havoc yelled after him, yet only seconds later he sighed angrily and put the gun back, chasing after them on foot and ordering Breda to cut them off in the car. Even as the car swerved away; even as Michelle came out of the restaurant with a concerned look on her face; and the Tringham brothers questioned him, his older brothers haunting words echoed throughout his head.

He knew what his teacher had told him, and he partly knew why Ed was doing this, but his brother's words still hurt.

_"See, it's not so hard…" _

He sighed and ran after all of them.

* * *

_'Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.'__

* * *

_

**(1) **Eh, I felt like it.

**(2) **I watch too much Law and Order.

**So, it's ****4:07 AM**** according to my computer clock, and I'm sitting up submitting a chapter for whatevericalledthisstory on a complete sugar high. Seriously, had like half a packet of skittles, and three of those little kinder surprise bars and then I had a 350mL V – so on top of the sugar high, I'm on a caffeine high. Strangely enough that was like 10 hours ago so I dunno…just felt like staying up. I got school on Monday…I'll never make it. I should probably go to bed…I might do that. Pfft as if. Anyway, off to find something else to distract myself with so when you're all dragging yourselves out of bed at a recent hour (say like 1 in the arvo) I am going to be so dead – dead tired. **

**DoThePieFace (Dude, WTF? The birds are chirping already, what kind of a stupid bird gets up at four in the morning – see this is what's wrong with this country – Australians are all crazy, and so are their birds) **

**P.S. I meant to put this up at 4:30 in the morning on Saturday but something was wrong with my server or I don't know but wouldn't let me load any documents up and because I haven't learnt to load the document _before _I put up the chapters I couldn't put this up. My bad, sorry for the wait**


	16. Hates and Loves

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Hates and Loves**

'_Courage is doing what you're afraid to do; _

_There can be no courage unless you are scared.'_

The footfalls behind them were getting softer and softer, and just when Ed thought that they'd lost them a car swerved out in front of the street. He made a sharp turn into the alleyway left of him and after a short growl of annoyance Envy followed him, hearing the car door slam. He caught up to Ed and shoved him into the shadows. "Get behind here, and stay there." He whispered harshly as the footsteps grew louder and he heard the two officers meet each other. Then he said, loud enough for the two to hear. "You go that way; we can meet back at the bridge." And Ed's face dawned in comprehension as Envy's form changed before him, to his own splitting image. "Don't move." He said dangerously.

Ed hid behind the bin and heard Havoc and Breda's footsteps fade as they 'spotted Ed'. He scoffed quietly and left the shelter of the metal tin. "I'll be damned if I listen to _him_." He said quietly to himself and headed back out onto the street, being careful to remain inconspicuous. His day hadn't exactly gone to plan, he'd wanted to get out of those bastards company, just spend a day strolling around the city. He'd never wanted to run into anyone. "I shouldn't've had lunch with Russell," he berated himself quietly, heading down another side street, not noticing the familiar buildings.

The sun was beginning to set, but Ed didn't notice he trudged on, lost in his own thoughts. He _had _guessed that his teacher was going to tell Alphonse what he'd told her, but he hadn't planned on running into Al so soon after. Then again he didn't plan much, and that which he did, didn't always go to plan. He hadn't wanted to say those things, hadn't wanted to see the hurt in his brothers eyes, the thing he was supposed to be protecting him from, but he couldn't think of any other way to keep him separate from his problems. He shook his head. Things were getting too complicated.

He was just glad Winry wasn't in any of this.

"Edward?" he turned his head up sharply while at the same time scolding himself for not keeping an eye out, but his feeling of panic was washed away with a rush of relief as he recognised the figure who had called his name. She had been sweeping the front of the house, he could tell by the broom in her hand.

"Mrs. Hughes," He said in surprise, he hadn't seen this woman in so long; it was a bit of a surprise. "What are you doing?" He asked, then realised it was a stupid question when she smiled gently at him.

"I live here, in case you'd forgotten," She said, amused. "The pathway was getting a little dusty." Ed smiled and nodded stopping and turning to face her.

"It was just the first thing that came to my mind," he shrugged.

"What happened to your face?" She asked, concern showing through in her eyes. Ed's forehead burrowed as he lifted a hand to his cheek. "No, your jaw," She said, and he moved his hand down, drawing back quickly as a sharp pain was sent through his head. His lips quirked upwards in a grim smile.

"I got caught in a fight," He explained, it wasn't completely a lie. She beckoned him inside.

"I'll put some ice on it for you." She said kindly, and after a moments debate with himself he sighed and headed up the stairs towards the door. He could hide out there for a while until he thought Envy had gotten rid of Havoc and Breda. He just hoped the homunculus didn't hurt them. "Here," She offered him a cold-pack when he was seated in the lounge and he took it with a quiet thank-you as she sat down opposite him. "I haven't seen you in quite a while Edward, you sure have grown."

He smiled at her, "I meant to come and visit, but with everything happening…" he trailed off.

"Riza mentioned there was some trouble concerning you." She said. "She didn't say too much though, Roy was getting annoyed."

"Mustang's always annoyed." Ed grumbled, rolling his eyes. "I don't know how Hawkeye puts up with him. Work _and _home. It kills me when I'm stuck in the same room with him for five minutes."

Gracia laughed quietly. "She doesn't have to put up with him at work anymore though; she's expecting that baby soon."

"Finally took time off for maternity leave, huh?" Ed asked, "How far along is she? I've been back almost 5 months now I think…wow that's nearly half a year."

"She's 8 months now. Not long to go, Roy's getting worried, he won't tell me that, but I know him well." She looked towards the mantle and Ed followed her eyes until his gaze fell on a picture of Mustang and Hughes when they were younger. Hughes was smiling, but Mustang looked so serious with the medal hanging off his uniform.

"I suppose you've known Mustang almost as long as you knew Hughes." He said quietly, and she smiled softly.

"Longer. Roy was the one that introduced us, I actually dated him first." Ed groaned.

"Not you too." He said and she laughed again. Then he realised how silent the house was. "Where's Elicia?" He asked suddenly and Gracia laughed again.

"She's 19 now Edward, she moved in with a few friends of hers a couple of months ago." She explained.

"It seems like just yesterday when I'd have photos of her shoved in my face constantly. That was over 15 years ago now…" There was a moment of silence following the statement, where only the ticking of the clock could be heard.

"The house gets empty…" Gracia said quietly. "But Roy and Riza visit quite often." Ed couldn't meet her eyes and felt a rush of guilt sweep through him, and he resisted the urge to shudder. If he hadn't been such a hot-head of a child, always doing dangerous things…then maybe Hughes'd be sitting across from him now, with Gracia in his arms, complaining about how his little girl was growing up too fast.

But it was just this lonely widow sitting across from him now. He stood up suddenly, he'd stayed long enough and the guilt was starting to eat away at him. "I just remembered I was supposed to meet someone at 5." Ed lied, and indeed the clock read 5:15. She glanced towards it and smiled warmly at him, taking the ice-pack as he offered it back to her. **(1)**

"Come and visit now and then, won't you? We're always having parties with the other boys." She said, seeing him off at the door. He waved and promised he would then he began to head down the stairs when her voice drifted down to him. "Go and visit Maes won't you?" She said, and he turned to face her, forcing a smile on his face.

"Sure thing Mrs. Hughes." He said, and as he walked down the street again, hearing the door closed, he turned in the direction of the cemetery. He might just do that.

* * *

The streets of Grand Central had succumbed to darkness and one angry figure stormed around the place. "Stupid bloody midget. Why can't he just stay put?" Envy asked angrily, having lost as he called 'dumb and dumber' and backtracked his way to the alley he'd left Ed in only to discover he wasn't there. Not like he hadn't expected it, but he just wanted to go back to the hideout, beat the crap out of the annoying little shrimp, and stay away from this stupid city, _forever. _

He started cursing loudly at a sleek black car that drove past him and splashed him with mud, however the car kept driving and the person behind the wheel smirked to himself. "Looked like he was having a bad day." He muttered aloud and turned the car slowly into the carpark of the quiet place. The door closing echoed around the dark empty space. He knew people didn't like coming after dark, so he had more time alone after the sun had set.

However as he walked up the familiar pathway, he spotted someone else at the place he normally stood. He didn't recognise the shadowed person until he was standing next to him at the grave. He placed the flowers he'd brought at the base of the gravestone and next to it, a bottle of beer, just for old time's sake. The two of them stood next to each other silently, not even the birds were chirping, they'd gone home for the day. "Can't say I expected to see you here," Mustang said after a while.

"What? Have you come to arrest me?" Ed asked, though there was no real anger behind the accusation and he stayed standing the way he was. Mustang chuckled quietly, a smirk on his face.

"I heard about that…but no. I'm just visiting an old friend." He finished quietly. And they stood in silence for a moment longer.

"…You two were pretty close." Ed stated, though at the same time it was almost a question.

"He's the best friend I've ever had. I owe him…everything I have." Mustang said their voices low and quiet.

"How did you work out that one?" Ed asked.

"I haven't always been the sexy, smooth, confident leader-"

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Ed muttered, rolling his eyes.

"-that I am. Once, a long time ago, I was just like you." Mustang finished, ignoring Ed's comment.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ed asked, turning from Maes Hughes' grave and looking at the dark-haired man beside him. However Mustang didn't turn to face him and when he began speaking Ed turned back to the well kept grave.

"I was scared, confused, alone…hell suicidal. I was overwhelmed with a crushing sense of guilt. I tried to drink it away, sleep it off, anything I could…until in the end I was so desperate I was going to try and bring back the people whose lives I took away."

"_You_ tried Human transmutation?" Ed asked in disbelief.

Mustang smirked. "…no. Maes got to me before I had the chance. Knocked some sense into me." Silence fell over the pair again, and Ed suddenly felt that sickening twist of guilt within his stomach. He'd not only taken away a husband from a loving wife, but a good friend from someone who'd needed him. "But it's taught me…if anything, that the line between good and bad is at best shadowy and vague. Who can say where one ends and the other begins?" Mustang continued. "Who are we to say who lives and who dies? Who are we to decide what's right and wrong?"

"Then how are we supposed to know what to do?" Ed asked, and hoped that the hopelessness he felt wasn't showing through in his voice.

"That's all you, kid. You've got to do what seems best at the time. You'll drive yourself insane thinking about it." Ed smiled a little at Mustang's answer.

"You've told me that once before." He admitted. **(2)**

"Maybe you should listen better." Mustang answered, and then the amusement disappeared from his voice. "I know what you're trying to do. You think that by distancing yourself from those that care about you, those that you care about, that you're doing them a favour. Well, you're not." He said firmly. "All we want to do is help."

"It's not your problem." Ed answered shortly.

Mustang sighed. "Didn't you take any of what I just said in, Fullmetal?" He asked, exasperated.

"You can't call me that," Ed said through gritted teeth. "I quit your stupid military."

"That doesn't mean that suddenly you're not my responsibility."

"I've never been your-" Ed interrupted furiously but Mustang cut over him.

"You're hurting your brother in the worst possible way. You don't think I didn't get him to tell me what you said to him after he followed Havoc and Breda? You think it's best if he just _forgot?_" Ed looked away from his gaze towards the grass growing at the base of the gravestone. "That would hurt more than anything anybody else could do to him. You're his _older brother,_ which means he looks up to; he looks to you for guidance. He thinks that this is something he's caused, that _he _made you run away. You need to wake up and see what you're doing to the people that care about you –"

"You think I don't know that?!" Ed asked angrily, and was suddenly glad that no one else was around to hear their argument, his loud voice echoing throughout the empty cemetery. "Do you honestly think I don't know it's stupid?! Of course I do, but…" his voice got quieter and he trailed off, still breathing angrily, his eyes wouldn't meet Mustangs.

"Then why do you do it? Why do you put yourself through that when you know it can _never _end well?" Mustang asked searching the man's face until he finally saw resignation spread across his features. His shoulders slumped and he looked so dejected.

"Because there's no where else I can turn." He admitted quietly.

"What am I? Chopped liver? There are so many people who are willing – who have the power – to fight." Mustang said bemusement clear in his voice.

"You don't understand…you don't know what's happened." Ed said, still looking at anything but Mustang.

"Al does…and he doesn't seem to care." Mustang prodded. "Your teacher's still willing to fight, that doctor…your father." Ed's head snapped up, but he didn't ask. "I'm not stupid, I know they all know something I don't, yet they don't seem to care, they still want to help."

"I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me." Ed said. "I've enough people's blood on my hands." He looked down at his palms as he said it, the white of his gloves shone in the moonlight, and indeed there was a red splotch of blood from his earlier fight. Mustang didn't miss the way his eyes slid to the grave they stood before as he said it, and he realised he was blaming himself for what had happened to Hughes.

"It wasn't your fault." Mustang said quietly, looking at the small name engraved on the stone.

"If I hadn't got him involved…I saw Gracia today…and she's so lonely." He choked a little as he said it, and then grew angry with himself for showing what he considered such a weakness in front of the grown man who had often been his opponent.

"She's not lonely." Mustang said. "She's always been like that…calm and gentle. That's why Maes liked her so much…he knew what he was getting into, I know better than anyone that blaming yourself for someone else's death will never get you anywhere. I killed Winry's parents, and for that I can blame myself, I won't hide behind my orders or their actions. It was my fault and my fault alone, I pulled the trigger and I ended their lives. But unless you did the same to Hughes then you can't say you're responsible for his death…unless you caused a person's death directly…you can't hold yourself responsible. It's just survivor's guilt."

"I may not have pulled the trigger…" Ed answered, "But I loaded the gun. Hughes isn't the only one who's dead because of a stupid decision I've made. Because I've been too ignorant to realise it wasn't going to end well."

Mustang sighed again. "You can't carry the world on your shoulders Edward; it's too much for _any _person to bear. You're given friends and family for a reason. Put aside your fears put aside your pride and use that loud mouth of yours to ask for some help. Because no matter how strong you are, no matter how smart…you can't do this alone. Whatever this is."

Ed mulled over what Mustang had said and inwardly sighed. He was telling people too many things these days. "I have a plan." He said, and Mustang grinned.

"Let's hear it."

It occurred to Ed later that night, when he was trying to ignore Envy's outburst at not staying put, that it was the first time since he had been given his military name that Mustang had called him Edward. It made the journey through the abandoned Chapel and down the elevator all the more interesting. He admitted it to himself, somewhere deep inside, that he did indeed respect the man, and hoped that the feeling was mutual.

Because there was nothing he hated more than being seen as inferior.

* * *

He walked into the office the next day with a purpose, and his loyal followers recognised it. "Something happen?" Breda asked casually as Mustang went to his desk and pulled over the phone, his ever-devious smirk plastered on his face. 

"You've been complaining about the lack of things to do, boys." He announced, and they sat up in interest. "We're planning an attack, of sorts." He added.

"An attack?" Falman questioned. "Where?" Mustang merely smirked.

"Ever heard of the Desert kingdom of Lebis?" He asked.

Breda scoffed loudly. "Oh, come off it. That place is just a legend." He said.

Mustang looked at him in disbelief as the others nodded in agreement. "You'll all believe in stupid ghost stories and killer warehouses-"

"Ah, I'm never going to live that down!" Fuery exclaimed pulling at his hair.

"But when I suggest a completely plausible idea, _'Oh, come off it, that's just a legend!'_" He imitated a high voice even though Breda's was quite deep. "What is this, the 'let's just go against everything Mustang says' club?"

"What's plausible about a city the size of Grand Central disappearing in one night?" Breda asked skeptically, but Falman answered him instead of Mustang.

"We've all seen it happen." He reminded them. "In Lior." And indeed the smug look on Mustang's face didn't help to appease the fact that they had been wrong.

"Yeah," Havoc snapped, "Well how are we supposed to find it?" He asked angrily, and grinned his own smug smile. However the look didn't disappear from Mustang's face. He pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and waved it about loftily.

"I," he boasted, "have a map." He was having the time of his life.

He loved being right.

* * *

_Anyone who says "Easy as taking candy from a baby" has obviously never tried it.

* * *

_

**(1)** Wow, 5:00, it get's dark early in this story.

**(2) **Episode…um…49. I think for those who can remember what one that is. Before Ed goes into the city and He and Mustang are talking and I thought while proofreading that it sounded similar. Ed doesn't listen.

**So it's really early Sunday morning again, like 1:00 which isn't as bad as 4. Let's hope it works this time. Good news: my holidays finally started heavenly noises 2 months drool 2 whole months… I also just realised that the next chapters that really really random one that's like so random. And pointless but any who. I setup a Live Journal thing (or redid it) so go check it out. This is up there all in one go lol. It's in my profile, so add a comment or something. :D **

**DoThePieFace**


	17. Family Portrait

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Family Portrait**

'_In our family portrait we look pretty happy_

_We look pretty normal, let's go back to that_

_In our family portrait we look pretty happy_

_Let's play pretend, Act like it goes naturally'_

_- Pink, Family Portrait_

The city did have an uncanny resemblance to Grand Central; Ed had to admit as he walked through their empty streets. He hadn't truly explored the place yet and he needed an excuse to get away from the others. There were times when he thought he could put up with Noa, sometimes even Envy, but after his trip to the surface he thought it would be best if he kept away from everyone.

He walked past the houses with broken windows and faded paint; some had doors swinging off the hinges. He imagined they must have been beautiful when they had been occupied; it looked like a rich city. There was a huge hill and on top one of the larger house, he began to walk towards the house; it was the best-kept out of the bunch, he could see how some of these people had lived. Despite the fact that he knew the place had been long abandoned, he still felt hesitant about going in uninvited. However, all hesitations he had were blown away when in the distance he could see some of Eckhart's cronies lurking around the houses.

If he stayed out of sight, they'd leave him alone. He'd had enough headaches to last a lifetime hanging around those idiots. He shut the grand doors behind him quietly and couldn't help but stare in awe at the giant house. Whoever had lived here had been _rich_, must have been real elites. His footsteps echoed and the wooden floorboards creaked beneath him as he walked slowly into the house. There was a large glass chandelier that hung about his head, and two sets of stairs that met on the second floor. He could make out 3 doors that were visible but guessed that there were more. He climbed the stairs, letting his real hand run along the polished oak rail.

By the time he had reached the top of the stairs he was able to count 9 doors, three on each of the walls, excluding the wall with the front door that reached to the high roof. The first two he tried were merely spare bedrooms, but when he opened the third there was a splendid sunroom, with beautiful curtains that accentuated the fading crème walls. He stepped into it; there wasn't much furniture, a simple coffee table, a few armchairs; simple but effective. He stepped over to the curtains and drew them back, stepping out onto the wooden balcony, which looked like it would collapse under him any second.

He imagined, that when people had lived there, that the garden had been beautiful. But now, it was nothing but wilted trees and dead grass; there wasn't any soil or fresh oxygen down here, the atmosphere was stuffy, and it couldn't rain. The foliage had died long ago. He turned back inside to investigate the other rooms. The first he tried was another sunroom, and he realised where the door he'd seen on the balcony connected to. The door in the middle of the nine was a dark room, and he drew back the curtains in hope of tempting some light inside, to see what other surprises the house held.

It was a relatively cosy room, a fireplace in the wall, a couch and two armchairs, and a small side-table next to one of the armchairs. He moved over and brushed the cobwebs and dust off the bottle and glass that sat there, but couldn't make out the faded writing on the label. It smelt like whisky. He frowned to himself and wondered if they had a wine cellar, it'd be worth money now with the time it had spent aging. He left what he had decided to dub the family room and moved to the next.

It was the largest bathroom he'd ever seen. There was a bath, that was worthy of being called a small pool. There was a shower in the corner, and a toilet, as well as a sink with a large mirror. He looked into the cracked dusty mirror, wiping some of the grime off the surface, and winced at the large purple bruise visible on his face. _Stupid Envy_, he cursed to himself, but moved on. The taps still work, but the water was rusty and discolored. Maybe if he could run the rust out of it he may have a bath later. There was, for a reason Ed couldn't think of, a fountain in the middle of the bathroom, it looked nice sure, but what was the purpose? Well he thought it would've looked nice at a point, but the water had stopped running long ago, and a layer of dust, grime and mould had settled upon the dancing ballerina.

He finally left the bathroom and moved on to the three rooms on the left wall. He discovered an art room in the first, with canvases and palette's, and he blamed Marian for knowing what they were called. She had always been artistic. He almost expected to find a grand piano, or some kind of musical instrument in one of the rooms, before remembering that such things didn't exist in this world and those were things you'd find in the elite houses of Munich or London. The other two fell into the same pattern as the opposite wall and were spare bedrooms; he supposed being rich you'd expect a lot of guests and relatives.

He walked back down the opposite staircase that he'd climbed and noticed as he was descending, 2 doors symmetrically placed in the corners of the large room, and seeing as he had gone this far, decided to explore these as well. The first was a large kitchen, with many adjoining doors which were small and didn't consist of much, merely a bed and a table beside them. He supposed those were where the workers slept. The door on the other side of the room actually had a pool inside it. The fake plants around it had fared better than those outside, and whatever provided light in the place had seeped through the dirty glass the roof was made from.

A small door to the side held all the linen for the house, and held more sheets and pillowslips in the large cupboard than Edward believed he had ever owned in linen or clothing his entire life. After returning to the large entrance room he climbed back up the stairs, noticing for the first time that the stairs continued onto another level. A straight simple pair that continued with the symmetrical theme the house seemed to go by. And after climbing them he was rather disappointed. There was nothing flashy, just three simple doors. He opened the first on the right, and his disappointment was washed away. There was a large king sized bed, and a bedside table on either side, one with a broken clock on it, and another with nothing. He walked over to the side that didn't have anything on the desk and bent down to pick up the photo frame that had fallen, yet couldn't make out the images. He supposed that at that time; they had made the same advances as the people in the other world. All that was left of the deteriorated picture were black and white patches.

Another door to the side revealed a considerably smaller en-suite, and Ed wondered just how many more doors he would find in this mansion, he still hadn't looked at the double doors underneath the banister. He left the room and moved to the one on the other side, after opening the one in the middle and discovering more stairs, and choosing to explore them later. He guessed that this was a child's room. Somewhere in their teens, he didn't know what the kids 400 years ago we're like. He laughed quietly to himself, he should ask Envy. There was a single bed, and a chest of drawers with an accompanying mirror. There was a bookshelf, something that the other rooms were missing, with an impressive collection of books, and Ed decided to himself that he'd take a look at them once he'd finished looking in all the rooms.

He left and ascended the stairs in the middle door, opening the door with a creak and looking into the dark room. It was times like these he was glad they had electricity, and was annoyed this houses' wasn't working. Eckhart had restored it somehow, probably by ordering one of the men she'd taken along, to many of the houses that the lot of them occupied, and he wondered vaguely why she hadn't picked out a grand estate like this one. After finally managing to pry open the shutters, and getting over his sneezing fit from the dust he decided that this must be the study. There were books lining the walls, a desk; which he was kneeling on to open the shutter; with not much else.

It looked much like he remembered his father's study to be, apart from the armor missing from the corner. He noticed that a lot of the books from the shelves were missing; unlike those of, after shuffling through the wardrobe, he had deemed the sons room which all of the books had placed with precision, apart from the one next to the bed. The rest of the house had looked untouched, whereas this seemed to be the last room disturbed before the city's disappearance. Not being able to help himself and his love of books, he pulled out a picked one of the books at random, opening the old pages to find that the text at least hadn't faded by much. "It's alchemic text…" he realised after reading a few of the lines and his eyes darted back to the many books, his fingertips brushing over the spines. "This city attempted to create a philosophers stone…there's got to be a research journal in one of these houses…" He muttered aloud, the noise a welcome relief from the constant silence.

He decided to take a look at the books and take some back with him, as soon as he had explored what was behind those double doors, the curiosity was nagging in the back of his mind. He supposed it was the dining room, the only room he hadn't found yet, and as he pushed the large patterned doors open, he discovered he was right. There was a long table that stretched almost to the back of the room; it looked much as Havoc had described the Armstrong manor. There were still rusting silver candle holders placed evenly along the table's length, and potted plants, withered and dead, had been placed along the sides of the room. His eyes were drawn upwards, to see a huge pattern in the roof made of stained glass. It was an intricate design and looked to be a rose, and it was bathing the room with a faint red tinge.

On the far wall was a large painting, and many other smaller ones surrounding it, of what he supposed was their garden, or perhaps what their neighborhood had looked like in its prime. However the painting's had dust on them, much like everything else, and the images were hard to distinguish. He turned to go back to the study when another painting on the wall he'd had his back to caught his eye, it was grand and bright. Three faces stared down at him, and after wondering who owned the place, he now knew. They were different then how he's last seen them, but at the same time they were much the same as he'd ever known them. The painting looked like it had been cleaned recently, it wasn't destroyed or decaying like the other one; it looked as though someone had recently, at the most in the last 20 years, come and cared for it.

He looked around with a newfound amazement; this had been his father's house. This had been the place he'd lived with Dante and Envy. Hoenheim didn't look like he had changed much in the portrait; he still had blonde hair, a beard and glasses, and behind the glasses his golden eyes, of which Ed had inherited. Dante looked much like he had last seen her, the splitting image of Lyra, apart from the slightly wavier hair, and the pleasant smile on her face. And Envy…well he looked like the only thing Ed had ever seen of his true form. Yet probably not as deranged. He realised that the boys' room must have been Envy's and the other, Hoenheim and Dante's. He shuddered a little; it was still weird for him to think of them as a couple.

He walked back up the stairs, not really deterred by his discovery; it was a nice house after all. He opened the door to the study and realised that the missing books must be those that Hoenheim had taken with him. Did he clean the portrait downstairs? He sifted through some of the books, grabbed 3 and headed back down the stairs, he better get back before they began wondering where he was, he could always come back tomorrow. However he stopped at the foot of the stairs, after closing the door and curiosity dragged him back into Envy's room. He didn't know anything about his estranged brother, not even a name. He looked through the bookshelf briefly, and discovered that many of them were also alchemic texts, so he had been an Alchemist.

He grabbed another two books, before noticing a few that didn't belong with the thick volumes up in the right corner. He huffed angrily, and looking around first; as though expecting someone to be there; he pulled the chair from Hoenheim's study to the bookshelf, standing on it to reach the thinner books. They were children's stories, and he was about to climb back down when one caught his eye. He pulled it down, it was a baby book, his mother had made ones for him and Alphonse and the first page had your name. However as he turned the delicate paper, some of the rotted paper fell away, and his brother's name remained hidden. He sighed and was about to put it back when something fluttered out slowly. He picked it up off the shelf and looked at it. It was hair. There was a strip of cello tape around it and paper inside with the small words, _his first haircut. _Ed grinned, oh this would come in handy later and he climbed back off the chair, leaving it near the wardrobe instead of dragging it back upstairs. He was about to leave when he remembered the book on the bedside table.

It was a green leather book, well kept and still in pristine condition, someone had looked after it as well as the portrait, and he wondered how long it had been since Envy had visited, or if he ever had. He opened the first page and there was a page of neat curvy writing with a date in the corner. _March 8th_. It was a journal, and though it was prying, Edward took that with him too. He placed all his items on the bed and decided to explore the room further. He opened the draw in the table the journal had been on and found another book, or at least he though it was but when he opened it, he found a photo album. There were pictures of Hoenheim and Dante, pictures of the three of them together, of some fancy gatherings he decided they must have had, people swimming in the pool, some pictures of his older half-brother when he was younger, another group of people around him. Then when he turned one page he couldn't help but smile, there was a picture of human-Envy and a girl, kissing his cheek, and he was blushing, even in the black and white photograph he could tell. He added the album to his pile, Alphonse and Hoenheim would appreciate the photos.

However the books were getting difficult to hold so he went down to the large linen closet in the pool room and pulled down a large cotton bag. Well that helped. He sneaked back into their hideout and managed to get to his room without being spotted, hastily stowing his newfound items of interest under the bed and sitting up just as his door opened suddenly. "Hey I could've been naked." He objected to Eckhart, who looked like she couldn't have cared less.

"Where have you been?" She demanded instead, Noa by her side. "After the disaster you caused yesterday I don't think you should be getting time to wander about."

"I didn't cause that." Ed growled at her, he really hated this woman. "If you hadn't sent Envy with me we wouldn't have gotten in an argument, you know we don't get along."

Eckhart smiled that smile that annoyed Edward to no end. "I would think that a man your age would be able to control himself. _Whether _you started the fight or not," She said loudly over Ed's objections, "it still happened. It takes two to Tango Edward. Get back to work." She said snappily. He growled at her, but all the same moved out to where he was designing the uranium bomb. "And don't go wandering about again." She said, following him to the room.

"I'll do whatever the hell I want." He answered his mood somber again, the freedom he'd had at the old house was gone and he was reminded why he was there.

"Do you need a reminder to behave Edward," Eckhart asked silkily. "Because I'd be happy to provide one, I believe you have a brother topside." The reaction was abrupt. He spun around on his heel and looked angrily into her face.

"You want this thing made Eckhart? Because I'm the only person alive who remembers how to make it. You leave my family and friends out of this or it won't get done." He turned and continued the way he was going, but Eckhart smirked insanely.

"You say that now Edward," She said, in a voice that was smooth and quiet but still reached Ed's ears, crystal clear. "But I remember you saying that once before, two bodies later, you're still here. Maybe you shouldn't care about so many people, because at this point, I've an almost inexhaustible source of_ motivators._" She threatened and turned, leaving the shaking, fuming man to do what he'd been blackmailed into doing.

Ed turned angrily with a yell of frustration and drove his automail fist into the wall, leaving a few scratches on the metal through the glove, but doing more damage to the wall. _Hurry up Mustang, _he thought, _before I'm found out. _**(1)**

_

* * *

_

Mustang's map had turned out to be nothing but a quick sketch on a flimsy piece of paper, far undeserving, in Havoc's point of view, of the extremely smug victorious look Mustang had worn on his face for quite a while afterwards. A surprising amount of people had volunteered to help with the dubbed 'attack' on the underground city; some not even part of the military.

The already cramped office was becoming even smaller with all the extra people. There was the usual military gang, minus Hawkeye of course, Armstrong, Alphonse, Izumi and Sig, Hoenheim, the other Alphons, the Tringham brothers, Maria and Denny Brosh, and Scheiska. As well as getting smaller, the room was getting louder, with the many people trying to voice their own opinions and ideas over the rest of them, it was getting so loud that Mustang almost sent out a burst of flame before realizing there was no space in which he could send it without harming someone. He resorted to shouting.

"Shut the hell up!" He yelled loudly and the room finally fell silent, many pairs of eyes turning his way. He spoke quieter. "The top brass don't know about this meeting," he said, "so I'd appreciate it if curiosity was not drawn this way, I hold a high rank, but there are others who are above me, who have offices down this hallway."

They finally ended up talking about what they had gathered there for, and Alphons had revealed, reluctantly, that he and Ed had already made plans, but by the end of the night Alphons was so convinced against them that he had persuaded Ed to drop the idea. Ed had revealed a lot to Mustang the night before, of many things that some in the room already knew, but most were clueless about.

He was creating a design for a uranium bomb for Eckhart so that she could overthrow Hitler, once she returned to her world. Edward knew that she had no intention of returning and he had no choice but to create the bomb; he said it was because "I can't stand to see any more people die because I made the wrong choice." Mustang didn't completely understand the comment, but he didn't miss the looks that Izumi and Al shared and the ones that Hoenheim and Alphons sent each other. He also guessed, by the way both of the pairs missed the looks that neither knew that the other was aware of whatever they were hiding.

All of them however, had helped to design their route into the city. Hoenheim and the Curtis's knew of some other entries into the underground city, Izumi had explained that her and Sig had gone and looked around for Ed after he disappeared. Mustang didn't question how Hoenheim knew. They had set out the plan of the city, with the help of Scheiska's photographic memory; apparently a lot of people had visited the city, Scheiska had been one of the ones to find Al when he had come out of the church 15 years ago; and with the help of Russell and Fletcher's fathers' log.

One of the biggest surprises had come when Alphons and Hoenheim discovered that Noa was working with Eckhart. Alphons had denied it, saying his fiancé would never have even though of it. But he couldn't deny the evidence, and after yelling and protesting and storming out of the room, he had to admit that it was true, but he denied that she would've done it willingly, and none of them could say anything against that.

Although Mustang had to admit, that _that _surprise, came nowhere near as shocking as the one that followed. Al had let slip the comment that had stringed together all of the clues. **(2)**The photo Ed had left at his house and the woman with the uncanny appearance to one Winry Rockbell; the name he'd muttered in his delirium at the hospital; his reluctancy to allow anyone to help him on the road he'd chosen for fear of them getting hurt; why Hoenheim and Alphons knew it before he had; why Izumi and Al knew it before he had; why he was so secretive about where he'd been…

"What?" Mustang said, surprising the rest of the room's occupants, who hadn't realised what he had from Al's seemingly innocent comment. "He's got a wife?!"

* * *

'_Don't go knocking on death's door, ring the doorbell and run, he hates that.'

* * *

_

**(1) **He's an angry little bugger aint he?

**(2) **You won't ever know what the comment consisted of, you realise that? Because I seriously can't come up with one. Hehe shifty eyes

…**yeah…I don't know either…gosh, I love holidays…all day…I can…do nothing…ah, 'tis bliss…**

**REVIEW!!! (Random O.o) – You love it.**


	18. Diaries are for Girls

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Diaries are for Girls**

'_One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown,_

_Is the belief that one's work is terribly important'_

_- Bertrand Russell_

**_March 8th 1537_**

_How would one start one of these journals?** Not** a diary – that's for girls – merely a journal, so I can look back later on in life. Or at least I suppose that's one excuse I could use, truth be told – as I understand you should do in these things – I was bored and here was an empty book with a pen._

_Mother insisted I stay home today, I protested, but there wasn't really much effort behind the objections. I haven't been feeling my best lately anyway, perhaps a day off will do me well. Although I am disappointed I didn't get to go down to the river. I was supposed to meet Donovan and Raphael. Donovan wants help impressing Elizabeth, the girl down the lane. I can't see why, but each to his own I suppose. She is rather attractive._

_And now that I've written that I'm not going to let anyone who can decipher this writing anywhere near it. Perhaps I could burn it? Spread the ashes down by the meadow? To make the burning not a completely ridiculous notion I should probably embarrass myself further, that and apart from writing this I still haven't found something to amuse myself. _

_So Donovan, he's an alright fellow, easy enough to get along with. He's a typical person from the desert, sun-tanned skin, and dark hair. I hate to admit it, but he is taller than me, but that's okay because I'm taller than Raphael. That guy's a midget. Donovan likes to fix things, but he prefers to do it with his hands, alchemy doesn't appeal to him much even though I think it would be something he'd enjoy. He's mischievous, but I suppose the three of us are, so it's not really saying much. _

_Raphael, he's the traveller. He's been up North, down South, to the smallest villages East and West, and he never runs out of stories. He's the comedian, always trying to turn something into a joke. I remember the time Don almost drowned down by the lake and after Raphael and I had managed to pull him out, both of us coughing a spluttering, he stood up and said "Right, I don't know about you, but I feel like a swim." We laughed, it wasn't that funny, but we we're all lacking in oxygen and overflowing with adrenaline. _

_And then there's me, the rich one out of the trio. What can I say about myself? I'm an alchemist, mainly because Mother and Father are and I don't want to disappoint them. Alchemy doesn't particularly appeal to me._

_I believe I've written enough for one day, maybe I won't entirely forget about this thing and write in it again, but writing on burnt pages is rather difficult so it's not bloody likely.

* * *

_

"I can't even remember what I said." Al exclaimed, shaking his head in amazement. "How on earth did you figure out he had a wife from what I said?" Mustang shrugged casually.

"It was a sort of chain reaction." He replied. "Well is it true then?" He asked his eye looking at five who he thought knew something. Sig's expression was stoic as ever, and so was Izumi's; however Hoenheim and the two Al's were acting very suspiciously. "Why is it such a big deal?" He asked. "I have a wife, you have a wife, and Izumi _is _a wife. Who's to say Fullmetal can't have one?"

"It's not that simple." Alphons said, sharing a look with Hoenheim. "I thought we were the only ones who knew." The different reactions throughout the room at the blatant admittance caused the volume to rise again.

"Shutup!" Mustang yelled loudly and gestured for Alphons to continue. However he wouldn't say anymore and they sat in silence waiting for someone to speak. "Fine then," he said angrily, "don't answer why it's not simple. Where is she?" He asked instead.

"They're dead." Izumi said, glaring slightly at him.

"They?" Mustang questioned. She didn't drop her gaze or turn away, but spoke confidently, in a quiet voice that they all heard.

"His wife and his daughter. They were both murdered. Are you happy yet?" She asked, and Mustang sighed slowly, and then shook his head.

"No, I'm not. From now on, I don't want anything left out; anything that's relevant to what we're doing needs to be told. That includes gypsy girlfriends with the ability to read minds that means previous alliances with the group we're fighting, outstanding history that might help, or might be relevant. I'm sick of finding things out at the last minute." He scanned the group with his good eye and straightened up in his chair. "I don't care which one of you does it, I want the whole story."

Ed leafed through the old photo album, not one was in colour and many were fading in quality and stability. But it was interesting to see how his other-family, as he referred to them in his head, had lived. He could distinguish, from descriptions in his half-brothers journal, many of the people in the photos. The dark-skinned boy who Ed thought must be Donovan, and then the rather-short dark-haired boy, Raphael.

There were many photos of the three of them together, Donovan, Raphael, and the Elric he didn't have a name for. Then there were some of Hoenheim with Dante and their son; some other people from the city whom Ed thought he could probably label if he read further into the journal; and one intriguing girl, who had been so far excluded from the writings. Well the older sibling hadn't appeared to have burnt the journal and spread it down by the meadow after all. After turning another page and seeing the mysterious girl yet again Ed frowned in thought and tried to decipher the number on the calendar in the back of the picture.

When he thought he had figured out the date he picked up the leather bound journal and opened it up to the page with the date _May 16th _written above it.

**_May 16th 1537_**

_I can't believe I've still kept this thing, Mother almost found it and I nearly died when she opened it up. I managed to snatch it off her before she noticed what was written in it, I think she thinks I'm planning to take over the world or something, what with the glare she sent me for snatching the thing off her. I should hide it better._

_What am I saying? I sound like a girl. I should burn it, like I originally planned, but seeing as I'm already writing I may as well continue._

Ed couldn't help but chuckle at the words, the Elric boy couldn't make up his mind. Ed wondered briefly how old he'd been at the time, but put the thought aside and kept reading.

_Riley got into some sort of trouble today, he always does. He's the local pick-pocket and everyone knows it, he normally gets the tourists, but I think he went for one of the men who insulted him the other day. The man was screaming his head off as though Riley had done something ghastly and incredibly wrong. Pompus old ass, Riley probably stole the mat of hair he keeps on his fat head. The old guy may as well wear a sign that screams "I'm Bald!" as you walk past. _

_Don, Raff and I laughed at him and cheered Riley on as the fat man ran past us, he sent us the dirtiest glare but we continued laughing. Don brought along his sister though and we all went back to my house to swim in the pool. I don't think I've written about her yet, so I may as well. Her names Annabelle and she's a year and a-half younger than Don, therefore a year younger than me. She's got a more typical Ishbalan appearance than Don though, her hair's a really light almost white blonde and her skin's darker than his. And her eyes are that deep red that Ishbalans have, Don's are too. Wish my eyes were red, that'd be cool. Raphael always says I complain too much because he thinks gold would attract all the ladies. Yeah Raff, because they're swarming over Father and I._

_Reading back on that sentence: eew. **(1)**_

_She's funny to be around though, Don doesn't like it because she can beat him in a fight and it annoys him. I wouldn't even try, because I've never even been able to beat Don; he's too big. She makes me want to do more Alchemy though, which is saying something seeing as I try to avoid it normally. She likes it, and so I do it to impress her. I wonder what Donovan would do if I asked her out for a date?_

Edward closed the book; he guessed that the mysterious woman was Annabelle then. He'd picked out the fact that she was an Ishbalan, but it wasn't until he'd just read it that he realised her and Donovan were related. He looked up in alarm and hastily shoved the books under his bed as he heard footsteps approaching. He lay back on his bed and tried to look like he'd been there for a while. The person knocked on the room and opened it slowly even after he didn't answer. "Edward?" Noa asked, closing the door softly behind her. He glanced briefly up at her but still didn't answer, "Why aren't you working?" She asked carefully.

"Finished." Ed replied shortly. "I know you know and I know it's why you're here." She sat down on the end of the bed near his feet and he sat up, moving out of her arm's reach. However she didn't try to touch him, to find out the secrets hidden in the corners of his mind. She sat with her hands clasped on her lap, staring at her feet as they dangled below her.

"Do you think what we're doing is right?" She asked, "With these rockets, and everything?" Ed scoffed loudly but she didn't turn towards him.

"Of course it isn't. Are you serious? She's planning to destroy entire countries, what _good _can come from that? What's possibly _right _about it?" He asked. Her face was downcast as though what he'd said had confirmed what she'd thought.

"I thought it would help…" she said quietly. "They offered to help me, to make sure I didn't go to one of the concentration camps, to make sure I wasn't subject to all of Hitler's laws."

Ed scoffed again, though quieter this time. "How would that help?" He asked.

"I wanted to help you." She said, as though he didn't understand. "I wanted to help you come to this world, to the place I'd seen in your dreams; I wanted to come with you, to find a place where I could finally belong. A place where people wouldn't judge me or be afraid of me." This time Ed outright laughed.

"And you thought you'd find that here." He said bitterly. "There's nothing here but conflict and war. It's always been that way, and it always will be. Look what's happening in your world, Hitler's about to start another war the way he's going. That's all humans ever know, is fighting and betrayal, killing and violence. Every single one of us is a hypocrite. Claiming to fight 'evil' to do 'good'. Ha, that's rich."

"But…" Noa began, "This world now, it's alright isn't it, there are only little bouts of fighting going on, surely they can easily be stopped." Ed grinned dismally.

"Not the way things are going. Don't you realise that Eckhart's planning to release the bomb on this world? You think that the people are just going to sit and take that? You think that the military isn't going to fight back? And no matter who wins it will be a bitter end. People will die and people will get hurt, and what for? So that humans can satisfy their thirst for blood. Because we're all pathetic, pitiful creatures. They're fighting 'evil', yeah that's rich. Evil…is a human invention."

Noa didn't know what to say for a while. "I'm sorry." She said at last. "For everything that's happened. Especially on today." And Ed realised the real reason she's come in there to talk to him. Today was the anniversary of their deaths. She remembered it as though it were a motion picture in her head, she could never forget. After all, they were her family too…

* * *

It was a shock to wake up in the morning and realise that they were all gone, realise that she was a prisoner of the people responsible. The door of the room she was in opened up and Eckhart walked in, she stood up immediately and stood in a defensive position, despite the fact she knew she wouldn't stand a chance. "Relax, girl." Eckhart said, a small smile on her face, but Noa didn't change in any way, her eyes narrowed in dislike.

"Where's Alphons?" She asked, her voice higher than she intended. Eckhart shrugged casually.

"I expect he's dead, along with Hoenheim and Edward. It's a shame…about Edward I mean." Noa tried to hold back the tears welling in her eyes and lunged at the woman.

"You – you -" She screamed, unable to find a word to express her loathing. "You've murdered him!" She beat uselessly at the older woman, who looked down at her with an almost bored expression, holding both of her wrists in her strong grasp.

"I think right now, gypsy," Eckhart said in a low dangerous voice, "that _that _is the least of your worries. Germany wants you out, and with no one left to protect you, where are you going to go?" She asked.

"No," Noa sobbed, sinking to her knees and causing Eckhart to crouch as well. "There's still Marian…oh god…Edward…" She realised that she'd need to tell Marian and Sophia about Ed. She fought against Eckhart pulling free of her grasp and making for the door when a muscled man stood in the way, glaring down at her.

"Marian?" Eckhart questioned casually as though it hadn't happened. "Oh don't worry; we've taken care of her and that insolent child." Noa whirled around in a blaze of fury.

"Liar." She hissed accusingly. But once again Eckhart wasn't in the least bit affected by the outburst.

"You've very limited options here, Noa." She said, and there was something in the sentence that increased Noa's distrust and dislike. "But you've got a very special talent. Something that if you do the right thing with, may save your life. Because you're not just any Gypsy, are you girl? You're a special kind." She moved forward, and touched her shoulder briefly, causing images of the woman's past to flash before Noa's eyes. Her planning with Hitler, her army of Armor's that had failed to serve as she'd wanted them to, her time spent in the prison and how it had driven her to a point where she was barely sane. Eckhart grinned as the woman flinched under her touch, knowing that Noa could see what she was thinking.

"Go away," Noa mumbled, pushing the hand away and stepping back, merely causing Eckhart to smile.

"You don't want to live like this," She said quietly, manipulating the vulnerable young woman in front of her. "Do you think the rules they're going to enforce will be fun? Who are you betraying? There's no one left, take what we offer you, because it's going to be the best thing you're going to get." And despite the way that Noa shook her head, her eyes wide a fearful, that way that she'd screamed at the woman to leave, Eckhart grinned.

"I don't know if we're going to be able to persuade her ma'am." The man at her side said, and she turned to him, a wicked grin on her face.

"We already have." She said, leaving the confused man behind. Because she'd seen the look in Noa's eye, that girl had no where else to turn.

* * *

Noa had received the shock of a lifetime when after 2 years of working for the Thule society, they met up again with Edward, Marian, and their now 5 year old daughter Sophia. She'd asked where Alphons was and he replied that he didn't know and the last time he'd seen him was the last time he'd seen her. He tried to convince her to come back over to their side, but Eckhart was right, she couldn't live like that, the rules, the discrimination. She only wanted a place where she could belong and at that point and time, Eckhart delivered that to her on a silver platter. For something in exchange of course, but what she did didn't hurt anybody. She didn't ask what Eckhart did with the information she gathered and when she touched her she didn't see anything that was horribly wrong, then again…she hadn't been seeing much of anything lately.

But everything changed _that _night. They'd been chasing after Ed and Marian for a few months and Noa thought if she could just _talk _to him, explain to him, then maybe he'd see things from their point of view. But it hadn't turned out that way. Eckhart had taken Sophia and held a gun to her head, threatening to kill her if Edward didn't create the bomb like she wanted. Marian had screamed and cried and begged for her child back so Eckhart had turned to her instead, saying she wouldn't kill the child, merely his wife. She knew Edward would've said yes before Marian interrupted.

"_Alright! I'll do it!" Ed's voice echoed around the large cavern. "You win," he said in defeat. _

"_No!" Marian cried, struggling against her captives. "Don't be an idiot, please! Don't do it!" However the man had already been taken out of the room and the desperate woman grabbed her child close to her as she was returned. _

"_Mama?" She asked, "Where's daddy going?" And the woman could do nothing but sob despondently into her daughters shoulder as she wrapped her arms around her mother, trembling in fear._

"_It'll be alright." The woman repeated, like a mantra, holding the child to her, rocking the both of them backwards and forwards as the people around her celebrated their victory. "We'll figure it out…we always do."_

Noa hadn't celebrated; she didn't know what to do. Because all her beliefs had been turned on their heads, she didn't understand how she, of all people, hadn't realised what Eckhart was planning to do. What was even more frustrating was that no matter how hard she tried, how close she got, how long her hand remained touching the woman's arm, she couldn't figure out what the rest of her plan entailed. So she watched helplessly as the people she had once considered her best – her only – friends; had to do Eckhart's will, and she slowly began to realise it was her fault.

She walked, with this heavy guilt weighing on her heart, into the room that Marian and Sophia stayed, laden with two dinner trays, having already eaten herself. She opened the door and Marian didn't even look up, she was playing with Sophia. However the little girl did look up as Noa placed the tray's on the table next to the beds. "Aunty Noa!" She explained, standing up and running to hug her. Noa felt the joy the child expressed as she hugged her and let her go, kneeling so she was the same height.

"Do you know what day it is today?" Noa asked, trying hard to suppress the guilt at the small room inside her. Sophia answered immediately, her eyes lighting up.

"It's my birthday!" She exclaimed, and Noa nodded.

"And how old are you?" She asked as Marian stood and moved over to the two.

"I'm six." Sophia said proudly, and Marian ruffled her hair slightly a small smile on her face.

"That's right kiddo, maybe daddy will come by later today." She looked hopefully at Noa, who met her eyes and nodded instantly.

"I'll see what I can do," she said, while feeling horrible at the statement, "Maybe I can get some cake as well." She smiled slightly as the little girl exclaimed with joy at the thought of cake and offered the two of them the dinner trays. Sophia went and sat on the floor to eat while Marian and Noa sat on one of the beds. "I'm sorry." Noa said quietly, her head bowed, as Marian silently ate her meal. "For everything that's happened. Especially on today." Marian attempted a smile but it failed and faded away.

"What's going to happen to us?" She asked quietly, her voice choked as she lowered the fork, dropping it on the plate. "What's going to happen to Edward? He's been cooped up in that room doing their dirty work for weeks." She said spitefully and Noa felt another harsh twist of guilt.

"I don't know." Noa asked, "I've no say in what they do. I never should have helped them, I was so scared, they told me you were dead, they told me Alphons was dead, I still don't know what's happened to him." Her voice was getting higher and louder and Marian rubbed her back comfortingly.

"I'm sure Edwards got a plan." She said quietly. "You'll help won't you?" She asked, in all seriousness. "If it comes to that, if he asks you to keep something secret, you will, right?"

Noa couldn't do anything but nod feebly; she wanted to help so badly. She'd do anything she could. So when Eckhart asked her to see if Ed's intentions were in their best interests, she lied. She told them Ed was doing what he was meant to; she left out the fact that he was creating it so that it would never go off, making tiny almost unperceivable adjustments so that it would never launch. She remembered the thankful look in his eye that told her he knew she wanted to help. However when the people Eckhart had on staff went over the plans they noticed the carefully placed mistakes, and they went back and checked for more until they'd figured out what he had been trying to do.

And she would never, not in a million years forget the child screams as her mother was shot in front of her eyes. And she'd never forget the look on Ed's face as they dragged his daughter away from him, the tears streaming down his face as he looked at the dead bodies of his family. The look of complete and utter hopelessness and despair as they killed the light of his life.

And the murderous look in his eye as he looked at her, blood covering his hands and darkness tinting his eyes.

And that's when she figured out why she couldn't read Eckhart's intentions. When the woman had laughed as she had committed the heinous acts. An insane person knows not their own delusional thoughts…what chance does someone else have of understanding them?

* * *

'_It is impossible to make anything else foolproof, because fools are so ingenious.'

* * *

_

**(1) **Eew…images…about…Dad. shudder

**I went to a wedding on the weekend, it was so pretty, we were in the botanical gardens up North of Brisbane (but I swear to…someone…that they have not yet heard of this thing known as CIVILISATION AND TECHNOLOGY, the place was so cut off.) And I didn't get back til Sunday…but I was busy til about now, so sorry bout the later than normal update but I hope you all enjoyed the…cheerful…chapter. C'mon, review, I know you want to…help me reach 100 reviews…so close.**

**-- Ants have invaded my room…and we ran out of insect killer. **

**DoThePieFace**


	19. Easier Said than Done

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Easier Said Than Done**

'_The worst way to miss someone,_

_Is to be sitting right next to them and know you can't have them.'_

_- Anonymous_

With the bomb completed Ed found he had a lot of time on his hands. He went back to his father's house a few times, looking at new things that he'd read in the diary, that he'd see in the photographs. Admittedly, he had raided the wine cellar. And as the days passed on he began to wonder how long it would be before Mustang arrived with his artillery. He trusted Noa not to say anything; she'd kept secrets for him before, however badly it had turned out.

It was true that he couldn't expect him to round up people willing to fight first and foremost, and then create a plan on the little information he had. Of course Hoenheim was there, and perhaps he could remember the cities layout, for it hadn't seemed to change when it was moved underground. He continued to walk deeper into the city or further towards the outskirts, really; seeing as the entrance through the chapel was in the heart of Lebis.

He walked past the houses, the wealth and cleanliness not as obvious in these slums. And finally after walking for an undeterminable amount of time he came to what he figured must be where the city ended, for there was nothing but a large dirt wall. A large gratified dirt wall. And he realised that the city had not entirely ended, the huge wall was a support. His eyes followed the wall to the top, but he couldn't see what was up there for the light in this place was dimmer than that in the central area. He noticed that off to the side there was a ladder leading to one of the cracked old roofs of the houses and he climbed up in, in the hope of seeing higher up the mysterious wall. He climbed over the ledge and turned his head upwards, his breath catching in his throat at what he saw.

"Well, can't say I was expecting that…" he breathed.

* * *

The wind blew across the green grassy field of the small eastern country town. The day had indeed been a beautiful and as the sun began to sink below the horizon a brilliant orange light flared across the sky. The mixture of colours and the cooling temperature was one of many summer nights, but no matter how often it happened the beauty and wonder never disappeared. Rose stared out at the sunset from her chair on the balcony. She remembered the first time she had seen the amazing spectacle, when she had delivered the ten-year old Alphonse back to his family. The only family he had had at the time anyway.

The rest of the occupants of the house were out or asleep. Chris was staying somewhere for the night, apparently the Robinson twins were throwing a party, something like that anyhow. Wrath had returned to Central, where it seemed everything was happening. Winry had finally exhausted herself and fallen asleep at her work desk, causing Rose to sigh at the thought of dragging her to her bed. But fortunately she had been awake enough to move herself there. She had become absorbed in her work shortly after Alphonse had called. Rose had talked to the both of them and had guessed what they had discussed. Al had told Winry of Ed's wife and daughter.

Rose had known before the both of them, having seen Ed looking at pictures when he thought no one else was around. She wondered, at first, why he had not told anyone of them and had thought of telling them herself but had brushed the thought aside. It was none of her business anyway. Winry however had been much more upset, she had tried to hide it but Rose had eventually talked her into talking about it. She had cried, as Rose expected she would've, burying her head in Rose's shoulder. "I waited for him…" she sobbed quietly and Rose rubbed her back in comfort, telling her words of what she hoped were solace. "I waited for him…"

"I know." Rose replied. And indeed Winry had, she had declined a marriage proposal offered to her long ago when she worked in Rush Valley, from another automail mechanic. The two had dated for quite a while, they got along and his mellow attitude equaled her fiery passion. Despite how little they shared in common, apart from their enthusiasm for automail, the two had gone together like peas in a pod. Winry had claimed she was in love with him, and he had tried to shout it from the rooftops before Winry pulled him down, red in the face with embarrassment at being put in the spotlight.

However when he had proposed, and they had been engaged for a few months, she had broken the engagement off saying she wasn't ready for that kind of commitment. Al and Granny Pinako had told Rose that they thought she couldn't marry him because he wasn't Ed, and somehow, Rose could see the logic in that. Winry wasn't ready to declare him dead, and marrying that man would've done that. The relationship was going nowhere and they had broken it off.

And although Rose understood this, she understood that Winry loved Ed, and deep in his heart he loved her back, she couldn't stop that small pang of jealousy in her own heart. For long ago she had been infatuated with the same man, whether it was some idea Dante had planted in her mind, or whether she had begun to fall for him long before that, whether it was merely a longing to fill the hole in her heart that Cain had once completed, she couldn't forget the love she had felt. And though she convinced herself that those feeling were long buried and extinguished, the pang of guilt confirmed that that wasn't true.

Because when she'd seen the photos, she could've told herself that he had visited a photographer who had thought it would be fun to dress them up, that the girl was the woman's daughter, not Edwards. She could come up with some far-fetched story to feed herself, to feed those feelings deep within her. But…hearing Winry tell her that Al had confirmed her suspicions.

Her heart had broken, a little inside.

And as she watched the golden-orange sunset, the pink tinge to the sky and the purple in the clouds, a small mumble prayer fell from her lips, her voice raspy and words nearly indistinguishable. _"…help them to fly fast and swift, dear Lord, light a candle for them for the path is dark and narrow and difficult to navigate. Grant us strength, oh Lord, so that when we are needed our legs are strong enough to carry us there. Forgive us when we cannot forgive ourselves. Give our voices strength, please Lord, so that we may be heard for these bright times seem to be coming to an end…give us strength, Lord, hear our prayer…in the dark of the night listen for our voices…"

* * *

_

"We've got 18 people, only 15 of which who can go into the underground city. That means between our 5 groups we only have 3 members in each, one of those has to be an Alchemist." Mustang said laying out the plans and drawing up the groups. "I'll be in one, Alphonse in another, Armstrong, Russell and Fletcher." He said.

"I'm not being separated from Fletcher." Russell said, ignoring his younger brother's objections. "There are other Alchemists." He said in a determined voice.

"I'll go." Hoenheim offered, and Mustang crossed out Fletcher's name, putting him in Russell's group and putting Hoenheim in the fifth.

"Anyone else not want to be separated?" Mustang asked, looking around the room, but the rest were fine being in any group. "Alright, to avoid confusion I'm splitting the two Alphonse's, Al H. you can go with Hoenheim. Sig and Breda you two can go with Armstrong. Havoc, Brosch, you're with me. Fuery, you're with Alphons and Hoenheim. " He looked around the room again, and frowned slightly, before scribbling down a few more names. "Falman you're with the Tringhams; and Ross, you'll be with Wrath and Alphonse, Elric that is." Wrath, who was sitting in the corner silently nodded in acknowledgement. Mustang wrote down the names and stood back studying them. "I'd say that a wide-spread group of talents." He said.

"And pray tell what are we to do up here?" Izumi asked Mustang, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Whatever you like," Mustang said, "I'm not sending in a pregnant woman, another in a wheelchair, and no offense Scheiska but I doubt you'd do too well in a fight." Scheiska smiled lopsidedly at him.

"None taken, I doubt I'd do well either." She said cheerfully. "We can block off the areas, make sure no one goes in." She offered helpfully.

"Right," Mustang nodded. "Each of the groups will have an assigned task. I'm assuming that they've some sort of power down there, so first and foremost we have to find a way to shut that off."

"There's a power box in the town hall." Hoenheim said, "However I'd say that would be right where they're staying unless they've gone up to the richer estates." Mustang smirked. **(1)**

"I thought that you might know something about that, that's why Fuery's in your group. You three have to shut off the power somehow. Fuery's our technician and you're our tour guide. And of course it doesn't hurt to have a watchman." He nodded his head in Alphons's direction. "Of course you get the easy job. The rest of us, get to have some fun." His smirk widened and Alphonse groaned.

"Why don't I like the sound of that?" He asked a small grin on his face nonetheless. Wrath spoke for one of the first time since arriving.

"Because," He said, arms unfolding, "you're the sensible one." He smirked. "So…what's the plan?"

* * *

**_July 25th 1537_**

_So much has happened today that I'm unsure where to start. The beginning I suppose, Mother insisted I stay home today – that's a week consecutively – she practically demanded that I don't move. I didn't even try to object, I don't have to energy to argue. I haven't had much energy to do much lately, it's becoming worse with every day that passes by and the days I stay home are becoming increasingly often. _

_Joseph came to visit today, he's Monique's younger brother. Monique's my favourite maid, she always telling me stories and gossip from the city. She's been working here for as long as I can remember. Sometimes when I see her and Joseph playing around – they even make arguing look fun – I wish that I had a sibling of my own. Perhaps a little brother or two? It gets lonely in this big house sometimes. Annabelle came by yesterday as well. I wish I wasn't so sick; maybe I could spend some more time with her. _

_Mother was beginning to get so worried that she called the doctor, he came by later this afternoon, shortly after I'd woken up. He's the first person I've seen from the city that hasn't been a friend in over a week – something that's suddenly beginning to matter to me. He was supposed to come around last week but was called away on business down South. He's an alright person I suppose, nice enough if you don't get on his nerves but a real fright when you get him angry._

_I don't think anyone will soon be forgetting the time Riley tried to pickpocket one of his family heirlooms. It was funny because it wasn't me, but it's safe to say that Riley's kept his hands to himself around Dr. Jefferson. I suppose it didn't matter that he was over a week late anyway._

_I've only been outside the city once – we took a holiday in Ishbal – and it was only for 2 weeks, maybe a few days longer. Mother and Father were researching something – I don't ask, as I've said (or written) before, alchemy's not a great interest of mine. I love to do it sure, love to be able to create something extravagant and exciting, but I couldn't make a living from it. _

_Anyway, I met some interesting people in Ishbal; I actually met some of Annabelle's relatives. They all resemble her and Donovan a lot. Half of them have dark hair while the rest have light – to the point where it is almost white – hair, dark skin, red eyes. It frightens some, I know, but I think they look rather interesting. Maybe my decision is prejudice considering I'm dating one – yes, dating. _

_I do remember though, the strange ways in which their arrays were drawn – and the villages dislike for it. Alchemy that is. It seems they're on the verge of banning it entirely – that certainly didn't improve our family's popularity. But still, I did a few tricks for the kids, made flowers and plants grow out of the sand, things like that. I remember playing by the fountain with the kids and I had a drink from the water – rather dirty water – I suppose that's how it happened. That's what I'll tell Mother anyway, because she convinced the mercury came from all of the chemicals and stuff she's got downstairs in the storeroom. **(2)**_

_Monique told me she's ordered them to clear it all and she's turning it into another spare bedroom. That's what the doctor said it was anyway – mercury poisoning. Some incredibly difficult to pronounce and/or spell disease evolved from the poisoning. It's all very simple really._

_Mother screamed and cried and denied that it was true before hugging the life out of me (probably not the best thing to write at a time like this); destroying the store room; and sending the messenger for the best doctor in the land. But I don't think that it'll help._

_Father was a bit quieter about it, asked the doctor to test me again, but I asked him not to. He just looked at me like I was asking him to do something incredibly difficult, I don't see what's so hard about it. The tests will be the same, and normally I'd humor him, let him alleviate his guilt – or whatever it is – but I'm too tired. I'm too exhausted. So he sat himself down next to my bed with his books, trying to find a way to do something about it. He looks at me strangely as I write this now, as I can hear Mother doing only-god-knows-what downstairs._

_It's all very simple, really. Mother can scream and shout all she wants and Father can look at every mercury or poisoning related book he wants to, but the truth of it is: I'm going to die. Very simply: I'll never reach my 18th birthday, I'll never see my parent's grow old, I'll never marry Annabelle. I'll never get close. _

_And some may say that I'm taking it well, but what else can I do? For the complicated reactions, the complicated story, the incredibly complicated name it's all so very easy for me. It's all so incredibly simple._

_Very simply: I don't want to die._

_And I believe I may have finally found something easier done than said.

* * *

_

Finally, after all the preparations, they were ready. Alphonse was almost quivering with excitement as he waited in the large house, the one on the hill with the many extravagant rooms, the indoor pool, the withered garden, and the mysterious double doors in which he could finally look behind. Oh, merely a dining room. He didn't bother to go inside, merely turning back around to face his two comrades. Wrath was waiting by the window, cautiously looking our every now and then. Lieutenant Ross was jumping up and down a little rubbing her hands in the chilly air. It was winter under here all the time it seemed, because it was freezing. There was no light to heat up the place and it was always colder underground.

"Cold?" He asked his voice in low tones. She grinned a little and nodded.

"These uniforms aren't made for warmth." She said, and Al had to agree with her. Each of them had been fitted with a military uniform, which for half the group wasn't a difficult task; another thing could be said for Sig though. It was easier to recognise them this way, and though he'd thought that his dad had looked strange in the blue material, none could compare with the change in Wrath as he'd slipped into the clothing. Wrath scowled at him now and threw another glance out the window as though reading Al's thoughts.

"I can see half those idiots from here." He said scornfully, his breath making a misty mark on the window.

"Can you see brother?" Alphonse asked hopefully. Wrath searched through the group.

"No." He said after a moment of silence, "Can't make out individual faces, but…I can see a palm-tree." His eyes narrowed. "I'll get him back." His automail gears whirred and the metal clicked together as he clenched his fist. **(3)**

"Palm-tree?" Al questioned and Wrath looked at him. The grinned and scoffed lightly.

"Of course, you don't remember. Have you been in the dining room yet?" He asked. He had taken a look through the lower floor of the house while the others had been searching the rest before he'd called them back down, their spare time becoming limited.

"I glanced." Al said casually, his brow knitting together, "Why?"

Wrath shook his head. "Never mind, you wouldn't connect the things together anyway. Maybe if you ever get your memories back you could return here." Al was about to say something more when Wrath spoke over him again, his voice laced with a sense of excitement and a grin spreading across his features. "Half the lights just went out." And indeed the mysterious music that had been floating up to them since they had arrived had suddenly stopped. "And the rest just went out, time to move." The three of them stopped talking and opened the front door quietly moving closer to the city; along the path Hoenheim and Izumi had plotted from the house.

They were so close to the group now, almost 10 minutes had passed since the lights had been cut and they were expecting a signal anytime soon, and they could hear the groups chatter. _"What's going on?" _One of the people was saying and though the dialect was strange to the three of them the meaning was clear.

They passed the group and moved further into the city, and even in the darkness they were taking great care not to be seen in the dim candlelight and torchlight. Suddenly a great flame leapt up into the sky, easy to see from anywhere in the city. "That's our signal." Wrath stated unnecessarily and the three of them moved forward to attack.

* * *

'_As you slide down the banister of life, may your ass collect many splinters.'

* * *

_

**(1) **What d'you reckon life'd be like in those days? Let's pretend they had power...and it was all stored in a random Town Hall...and that it was incredibly easy to cut off (not that I'm trying to dis Fuery's skills).

**(2) **Muahahahaha, he drink da filthy water. Tsk, tsk. I originally had this as he cut his finger with some glass from a thermometer that had mercury in it until I realised that...that wasn't the most spectaularily believable way to get murcury poisoning.

**(3) **Hey, Envy was pretty mean to him...they don't call him Wrath for nothing.

**There is chapter Nineteen. I got to 100 reviews!! Actually 104!! Yay!! I never thought it'd be so popular, so I'm happy. Um…well there's not much to say for this one is there. Except that WE HAVE ACTION!! AT LAST!! **

**So thankyou to all of you who have helped me get to the 104 review mark, I really do appreciate it and am really glad to see that you people like my work!**

**DoThePieFace**


	20. Memories of a Distant Past

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Twenty**

**Memories of a Distant Past**

_The way I see it, if you want the rainbow,_

_You gotta put up with the rain._

_Dolly Parton_

Fuery could feel the sweat run down his forehead. _Easy job my ass, _Fuery thought as he ran silently past another drunken soldier. _They don't have to sneak around in the light_. Granted Hoenheim was leading the way, and Alphonse, who was behind him, probably had more of a chance of being seen. But the real thing was much different than the training. Fuery had had his fair share of running around in dark places trying not to get spotted, but never before had he had the entire operations success weighing on his technical ability.

Hoenheim stopped and Fuery and Alphonse joined him. Fuery once again cursed the man's ability for being almost unnoticeable. How did he do that? He pointed out a large box and Fuery resisted the urge to sigh, of course, it had to be an extremely old operating system he wasn't used to. Yet he opened the large booth and scrutinized the wires all the same, at last making a decision and signaling to the two who were keeping watch. He cut one of the wires and the music that could be heard almost all throughout the city suddenly stopped the volume of the surrounding chatter rose and Fuery quickly cut the second wire, causing the entire city to be flooded in an eerie blue glow.

The three of them quickly ran back the way they had come, as they had planned. But Fuery was beginning to become a little curious about the direction they were heading as the noise behind them became quieter and quieter. "Where are we going?" He asked finally, "Aren't we meant to help the others?" He turned to see Alphons, looking just as confused as he was and he wondered if perhaps they were merely taking another route back. Hoenheim really did know his way around the buried city. However his suspicions were confirmed when the older man shook his head.

"We have to make a stop first, there's something I need to do first." Fuery exchanged glances with Alphons again but neither said a word, following Hoenheim at a quick walk. However when Fuery saw that they were approaching a graveyard, his irrational fear of ghosts took over and he refused to walk past the gates. Alphons stayed with him and turning back to the city the two of them saw a flash of fire leap across what could be called the sky. Soon after that, they could hear the commotion of a fight and they missed the flash of blue light behind them, Hoenheim soon returning to their side, and the three of them made their way back towards the city.

Alphons was going to rescue his fiancé, no matter what it took.

&&&

The good thing about surprise attacks was that the enemy didn't have a chance to grab their weapons. Al though happily to himself as he caged another group of Germans, who were yelling profanities at him angrily, making him glad he couldn't understand them. He was getting the point of their angry shouts, but he decided instead to pretend that they weren't yelling at him. He was worried though, Wrath had disappeared shortly after the commotion had begun and though he occasionally saw the flash of blue as Maria Ross ran past, her gun flashing as she shot, he couldn't see the youngest homunculus anywhere.

As they made more progress moving towards the center of the party, or gathering, more Al realised that the people he was fighting were becoming more skilled. He guessed that the ones on the outskirts were merely there to make up numbers. "Great, another one," He turned at the familiar sounding snarl and was surprised to see a rather strange looking man, wearing a black outfit with the same red circles and lines that Wrath's first ensemble had had. Before Izumi had fitted him with some proper clothes of course, and it was then that he spotted the oroborous on the man's thigh.

"You're a homunculus." He said, instantly clapping his hands, pressing them to the ground, and watching in satisfaction as another stone cage rose up around the man with the strange Hairstyle. However the homunculus merely smirked in amusement.

"Well spotted captain obvious," he applauded with dry sarcasm, "I can see you're the brainy one," He moved towards the bars of the cage and tapped a few with his finger. "Reinforced with metal elements, well well, not as stupid as we look are we?" He stepped back a little. "Envy's the name, though in a few moments it won't matter much." He grinned and spun on the spot, his foot striking the concrete and steel bars and smashing them into tiny pieces that skidded across the city floor.

Al gritted his teeth; he wasn't surprised; he'd seen what Wrath had managed to pull of in the days when the stones he'd consumed had still been supplying him with a substantial amount of energy. Al jumped back as out of the dust Envy launched at him and he was suddenly extremely grateful for his teachers training methods. He blocked each of the attacks his opponent sent at him, waiting for a time when he could use his alchemy to transmute a weapon, or a time when he could catch Envy off guard.

"Not as good as the older brother, are you Alphonse?" Envy taunted, and Al grinned.

"It's quite the opposite _Envy_," Al replied, seeing his opportunity moving to the side and grabbing Envy's arm as he threw another punch, flinging the other over onto his back, effectively winding him. "He's never beaten me." He clapped his hands together once more and from the floor drew a short sharp blade with intricate design on the handle.

"You're always showoffs," Envy said, quickly jumping to his feet and lunging at the sandy-haired man. "I don't know how you got out of that armor Tin-can man, but I intend to put you back in." He threatened, a grin spreading across his face. "Let's play for a while shall we?"

&&&

Wrath took the first opportunity he had seen to sneak away from the other two. He wanted to help out with the fight; he'd never miss the chance to get revenge on Envy, but to be able to do that he needed to find a reliable energy source. He had no power to rejuvenate should Envy deliver a fatal blow, nor did he have to energy to keep up with the fast-paced battle he knew was likely to ensue. He needed to find more red stones, not that that should be difficult in the underground city; after all, this was where Dante had formed the homunculus into what they had been until each of them had been defeated. One way or another.

He finally thought that he may have found what he was looking for and bent down to pick up the shiny red stone, and then he frowned. He didn't think he would've found them so uncared for. That's when he felt – and smelt – someone's breath on his head. He made a sound of revulsion and leapt back nimbly, the stone still clenched in his fist, only to be greeted with the sight of a large mutated thing that may have once held the form of a human. "Gluttony…" he said, remembering that the last time he'd seen the short fat man was when everything had been driven from his mind but the desire to eat and never stop.

A strange noise escaped Gluttony's mouth and the head attached to the long neck reached out and attempted to snap and bite Wrath. Wrath, seeing that at the present time he was outmatched, ran in the direction he had arrived from; before realizing that the others were there and had enough problems on their hands. However before he had a chance to change directions Gluttony grabbed the younger homunculus and threw his fragile body hard against one of the stone walls. Wrath's vision turned black for a moment and the red stone flew from his hand before he hit the ground, rising quickly despite the blow and running towards the stone. He grabbed it and shoveled it into his mouth as Gluttony let out an unearthly screech, surely attracting the attention of the others in the city.

Gluttony managed to grab Wrath as he stopped to pick up the stone but he kicked his foot into the roof of the monsters mouth and was soon dropped to the ground, falling into a body of water and sinking to the bottom. He opened his eyes under the water, quickly adjusting to the bleary vision and noticed that there were many red stones under here. He grinned, and the water seeped into his mouth, but he grabbed handfuls of the precious rocks.

Gluttony's large body twisted as he looked around for the small meal he had just been playing with, and his long neck turned in the direction of the water as a large pillar of water was raised from the surface, the snack jumping out of it. "Bring it on, ya fat lard." Wrath grinned, revitalized from the shards of the stone, but despite all this he still didn't know how he was going to defeat the large eating machine. He dodged the snaps and blows that Gluttony aimed at him with new speed, and finally managed to pick up a thin snapped lamppost and drove it into Gluttony's large stomach. However, it seemed to only enrage the homunculus more and he let out another yell, snapping forwards and grabbing Wrath's midriff between his teeth.

Wrath couldn't help but let out a cry of pain as Gluttony bit down, and he could feel his ribs snapping, not able to heal themselves while they were still in bent in an awkward way. He raised a shaking hand to try and do something to Gluttony but before he had the chance a burst of flame consumed the both of them, causing Gluttony to release Wrath, who hastily crawled to the side, rolling to put out the flames and stopping to allow his body to rejuvenate. He stood up as Mustang walked over to him, Havoc and Brosh walking behind him, staring in amazement as Wrath clicked his neck and stood up. "You…he…eaten…" Brosh said in amazement as an alchemic light spread up throughout the homunculus's body, his military uniform, which was in shreds, being replaced by the clothing he used to wear.

Wrath checked his automail for signs of damage while Mustang continually burnt the large creature. Once he was satisfied he turned to the dark haired man, "He should be dead." Wrath stated, and Mustang snapped his fingers once more and turned to the child.

"You were supposed to be with Alphonse and Ross." He stated, "Don't tell me there in there," He nodded his head in the direction of the now burnt Gluttony, and Brosh's face whitened considerably. However he was relieved from his fear when Wrath shook his head.

"I left them back there." Wrath said, "I needed to do something first."

"You tried to fight _that _on your own?" Havoc asked disbelief clear in his voice.

"No," Wrath answered rolling his eyes before turning them to Gluttony, "I didn't think he'd still be alive, he turned into a mindless machine after Lust died. I suppose he's been down here all this time, just eating and eating." He began to walk back in the direction that he had come. "Thanks," he said almost inaudibly. But Mustang heard and smirked.

"Where're Alphonse and the Lieutenant?" He asked. "You weren't meant to separate."

However before Wrath had the chance to answer a cry rang throughout the city, followed by an angry scream. "They're where that came from." Wrath answered, and followed the three other men as they took off in the direction of the shouts.

&&&

Al panted heavily, surveying his surroundings. The buildings and pathways were damaged heavily and he himself was looking no better. His armed was wrapped around his stomach, trying to limit the movement of his ribs, there was a gash in the same arm that was bleeding, and there was blood on his face from a cut above his eye. He could taste the copper as he swallowed in his mouth.

Sweat ran down his face as he looked around the area, trying to figure out where Envy was going to appear. He pivoted on the spot as he heard footsteps approaching, at once getting into a defensive stance, but relief washed over his features as he realised it was only Mustang, Havoc, Brosh and Wrath. However, in that small moment of vulnerability, Envy lunged from one building, kicking Al harshly in the stomach and causing him to go flying into another building with the force of the attack, the wall collapsing in on him.

Mustang raised his hand at once and snapped, even from their distant position, but Envy nimbly dodged the bursts of flames sent after him. As he jumped back from another one, Wrath, who had snuck up behind him, kicked him roughly in the head with his automail, causing the green-haired homunculus to fall over. "You," Envy snarled, standing up as quickly as he had fallen.

"Yeah me," Wrath answered, getting ready to fight. "We have a score to settle."

Envy merely laughed a smirk on his face. "You're not serious, are you runt? You want revenge on _me? _You think you stand a chance?"

"They don't call me Wrath for nothing." He answered, lunging at the same time that Envy did. As the fast-paced battle was going on in the background, Mustang and the others rushed over to where Al was, Brosh making sure the fight didn't come there way.

"You alright?" Havoc asked, pulling Al up and draping his arm over his shoulders, apologizing as Al winced.

"Yeah," He answered his breathing still heavy, "Just didn't expect it; is all. I think I hurt my leg." He said with a wry grin, looking down at his leg and the new wound he had acquired. "Have you found Brother yet?" He asked, and Mustang shook his head.

"Not our group, we had to bail Wrath out of some trouble, where's Ross?" Mustang asked, and Al's eyes widened in remembrance, pointing at one of the houses.

"She tried to help me." Brosh ran over to where he had pointed, calling out her name. "I don't think she's hurt too badly, just unconscious." Mustang spared a glance in the direction of the fight ensuing between Wrath and Envy, the flurry of kicks and punches and flips. He soon made up his mind on what was going to happen. Brosh bought Maria over, who was awake, but groggy.

"You two," He pointed to Havoc and Brosh. "Take those two," he pointed to the people draped over their shoulders. "Over to the entry by the Chapel, it's the one we came in through. Riza organised a medical team up there, so I want the both of you to rest for a while."

"What are you doing until we get back, sir?" Havoc asked quickly, before Mustang had the chance to head off.

"You're not coming back. Stay up there, all that you were meant to do has been done." He answered, but Havoc wasn't satisfied with the answer.

"With all due respect, I'm not leaving you down here, as far as I know this guy isn't even the worst of them. Plus Hawkeye'd shoot me if I even suggested it." He stood straight, with determination in his eyes. Mustang sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"I suppose it doesn't matter what I say, does it?"

"No, sir." Havoc replied with a grin.

"Then you round up the others; see if everyone's been secured. I'm going to find Fullmetal." Al looked up behind him as he said that, at the approaching figures of Fuery, Alphons and Hoenheim.

"Dad…" He said, standing up straighter, despite his protesting ribs. Mustang turned to face the group but Hoenheim wasn't looking their way, his attention was turned towards Envy. Al cursed, and the rest of them looked at him in surprise, but it was at that moment that Envy's attention had wavered and he had lain eyes on Hoenheim. In an instant he threw Wrath away from him, not even watching to see the Homunculus skid along the floor and had turned furiously to the old man.

"I can't _believe _you're still _alive!_" He ran forward, with the intent to seriously hurt the man, but just as he moved forward Hoenheim clapped his hands together and pressed them to the floor. A wall of rock rose up before Envy, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

"You can transmute without a circle?" Mustang exclaimed, having not before known the information. But the wall Envy was behind smashed, bits of rock and dust flying everywhere, and Envy once again attacking Hoenheim, who dodged his attacks with a sort of practiced ease.

"I don't want to hurt you," He said, only loud enough for Envy to hear.

"Really," He snarled in return. "Because I'd like nothing more than to see you dead and rotting." Hoenheim's face held a shadow of a smile as he moved back with each attack Envy made.

"I'm already rotting," he said, in the same quiet voice.

"Then all that's left is for you to die!" Envy retorted. However Envy couldn't get a good hit on Hoenheim and finally he stopped trying to attack, the pair had continuously been going round in circles and had ended up in the same spot they had begun. "Why won't you fight me?" Envy asked, anger distorting his face.

"Why do you want to?" Hoenheim replied, noticing out the corner of his eye that Havoc and Brosh were in the process of taking Al and Maria to the surface. Envy saw the direction his eyes slid and he grinned.

"I've already murdered one of your sons." He said, in a loud enough voice for the others to hear. "Let's see you try to stop me kill the other." He ran towards the injured Al and as he did his arm changed into a sharp pointed blade as he did so. Before anybody else had a chance to react Hoenheim clapped the fingertips on his hands to his palms, and an ice sculpture appeared in front of Envy, a human figure with no features. However Envy paid no heed to the person-like monument, shoving his arm into the chest of the sculpture and causing it to crack and break.

However the movement had triggered memories inside Al's head. It had caused him to remember the pieces he couldn't grasp and suddenly in a rush of images it all came back to him. He groaned in pain and grabbed his head, trying to make sense of the pictures, loosing an interest in the world around him. He didn't notice as Hoenheim pushed Envy back with more and more sculptures, didn't hear Mustang's concerned questions, and didn't realise as Havoc tried to lift him up calling his name. However the information was too much on his worn out body and the next thing he knew, they memories stopped and all he saw was black.

&&&

'_I was playing poker with Tarot cards the other day. I got a full house and four people died.'_

_&&&_

**I'm getting really annoyed with my computer at the moment, because it won't detect the mouse so I'm trying to navigate through this whole loading a document and fixing up a new chapter with my keyboard. XD But, it is interesting I must say. Thanks for all your feedback people, I appreciate it a lot (and no one told me dinner was ready :( I see how it is) so thank-you all!!**

**DoThePieFace**


	21. Dante of the Deep

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Twenty-One**

**Dante of the Deep**

'_What you are, we were,_

_And what we are, you will become.'_

_Anonymous _

A large transmutation circle was imprinted on the roof and glowed a faint red. It was a design Ed had never seen before, yet one that somehow seemed familiar.

The city didn't stop at the wall. The wall was merely a means to hide their most precious, most deadly treasure. There in the middle of the large array, there was a courtyard; and there, in the middle of the pillars that marked the edge of the courtyard stood a pedestal with a cushion placed on its top. There on the cushion, glowing a faint red; was the very thing Edward had once staked so much on. It was the thing most sought after by all in their field. Those who hunted after it would be met with anguish and hardships. It was a lesson that Edward and Alphonse had learnt well. And when they did accomplish their dream, it had been a bitter sweet end.

It was the devils quest indeed.

Here, despite the fancy cushion and glowing transmutation circle, it looked like a rock. The Philosophers' stone, in all it's glory. Ed stared at it, in fascinated wonder, like anybody would at an object of legend. But he was surprised to find that he had no desire for the item, he no longer cared for the stone like he once had; he had decided, once and for all; that the stone wasn't worth the trouble it caused. Granted it had saved his life and he doubted that if he and Al had never obtained it, that Al would be out of the armor. But he also thought that without the stone he wouldn't have ended up where he was now, and where he was now was not such a desirable place.

He was curious, however, as to the purpose of this small red rock. It was much smaller than the one that Scar had made in Lior, it was more solid, and glowed less brightly. Perhaps the Ishbalan theory was different to the one he had been brought up on. The one in his father's books, more than likely, the one that this town had used.

His head snapped around as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He climbed the stairs on the side of the wall and was once again on the roof. He noticed that the power in the city was out and he frowned in curiosity. Then, as he watched, a burst of flame leapt across the city, right where Eckhart was staying.

A grin slowly spread across his face, as he began to hear the shouts and noises of a fight. Finally, Mustang was there. He walked back into the courtyard, and after a moments deliberation, he reached out and picked up the stone. It weighed a lot more than what it looked like it should, but he had almost expected that. He placed the stone in his pocket, and turned from the courtyard, without a second glance.

As he walked back down the streets, at a fast pace, but not a run; he came to the realization that in his pocket he held the lives of all the people in this town. He stopped suddenly, near the house that his father had lived in and he turned his head towards it. His half-brother had grown up in that house, he had died in that house, and chances were, that he was reborn in the same house. Ed wondered what had happened first, had the Philosophers' stone been created, and then Envy resurrected, or did it happen the other way around, or at the same time? There was so much he didn't know, and he made a note to ask Hoenheim about it, once this entire mess was sorted out. With his hopes high, and his thoughts finally becoming cheerful he headed back down the road.

Finally, things were beginning to go right.

* * *

Mustang made his way through the empty streets; Alphons by his side. The sound of their boots clicking as they walked was a welcome distraction from the noises that could be heard throughout the city. Mustang guessed that the sounds to the left of them were Armstrong, Breda and Sig rounding up the last of the Germans, and that the noises behind and to the right of him were the curses of the already captured groups. He looked left and right, down the dark alleys and quickly through the houses, but none of them were occupied. It seemed that the Germans had chosen to live in houses near the chapel, perhaps for an easy access point, perhaps for another reason.

They had yet to find Edward, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was beginning to worry, even if it was only the slightest bit. He knew Ed could take care of himself but surely their beginning signal had attracted his attention, or maybe gluttony's scream, or the sound of Al and Envy's fight. He had left Hoenheim to take care of the homunculus, after deciding that he was definitely capable. And once again, he had to admit, he was impressed.

Never before had he seen an Alchemist with such a talent. He knew that Ed and Izumi could transmute without a circle by clapping their hands together but Hoenheim didn't even need to do that. By touching his fingers and palms together in a sort-of one handed clap, he could change the elements in the atmosphere to create ice figures or spikes and he was holding his own against Envy easily. He wondered briefly how the three of them had obtained the ability to transmute without a circle. He knew that both Edward and Izumi had attempted Human Transmutation, but then again so had Al and he doubted Hoenheim had done that.

Before he could ponder more on the subject however, another pair of footsteps joined their own, they were lighter and quicker, and it sounded more like Hawkeye did when she walked then his own heavy steps. He raised his hand in readiness, and Alphons saw him do so, getting ready for a fight himself. However when the figure turned the corner he abandoned all will to fight. She saw them as she turned her head, looking up and down the streets the same way they were, but froze when she laid eyes on them. A heartwarming smile spread across her face and she dropped the folds of her dress, running towards the pair, much to Mustang's confusion, and threw her arms around Alphons's neck, pushing the two of them back slightly. "Oh Alphons," She cried, her voice muffled in his shirt. "Oh, you have no idea how good it is to see you."

"I don't know about that, Noa." Alphonse answered, hugging her tightly, and spinning, placing her back on the ground and pulling back to study her face. Her eyes were glistening with tears and he smiled at her, nodding at Mustang subtly that she wasn't an enemy. Noa threw her arms around Alphons's neck again.

"I thought you were dead, when Edward said he hadn't seen you after the attack, and you had been shot and I…oh Al." She couldn't say what she wanted fast enough and just gave up, holding him as though she'd never let go. But finally she did a look of remembrance on her face. "Edward!" She said, suddenly, "Have you seen him?" Alphons shook his head.

"You don't know where he is?" She drew back, at arms length, but reluctant to let go of his hand.

"I haven't seen him since dinner yesterday. I fell asleep last night and he was gone this morning. I heard fighting and I've been expecting it so I've been looking for him everywhere. I think he may be up at the house." She turned her head to the large house that Al, Maria and Wrath had been positioned at and turned back to the two men. "He goes there a lot…" She grabbed Al's hand and dragged him in the direction she'd been going. "Come on, it'll only take a few minutes to look. He stays away from a lot of the rooms."

"Are you coming General?" Alphons asked, as he walked away with Noa. He stopped walking and Noa stopped too when Mustang raised his hand, snapping three times, one after the other, causing three bursts of flame to rise up into the sky, much like their starting signal. He smirked at them.

"I figured it was time to be heading back up to the surface. Armstrong won't leave until he's sure everyone's captured, but anyone else around will be heading back up now." He followed Alphons and Noa to the large building on the hill, and he was surprised to see Wrath there when they arrived. "What are you doing here?" He asked. Wrath had gone one way while he and Alphons had gone another, both groups searching for Ed while Fuery and Havoc took Al to the medic team waiting on the surface.

"Looking for Edward." Wrath answered looking at the house. "I figured that he might've been to this house." He grinned warily, "After all, it's not like it's discreet. If he found it, then he'd probably come back." Noa opened the door while they were talking.

"He only ever goes into the son's room, and the father's study." She explained her voice slightly hushed. "And the cellar." She added. "Edward?" She called out, running up the stairs quickly and leaving the three of them in the entrance hall.

"Who's that?" Wrath asked seemingly disinterestedly.

"That's-" Alphons began but his sentence was cut off by a large explosion and Mustang ran to the still open door, looking out upon the city below.

"There," Wrath pointed out, to where they could see the distant figures of Hoenheim and Envy, still fighting and a smoking crater in the ground near them. "I bet he punched the floor." Wrath said. "He does that when he's angry."

"Look!" Alphons said, pointing a little to the left of the pair, at another obviously golden head. "It's Ed. Noa!" He called, out and she ran down the stairs before he had the chance to turn and fetch her.

"I know, I saw." She clutched a book to her chest, and when Alphons glanced questioningly at it she shoved it in the bag that was slung over her shoulder, heading out the door after Mustang and Wrath. "It's something Edward would appreciate I keep for him." She explained to Alphons's questioning glance. "It's an important item of his brothers." But that was all she said, and as the group rushed down to meet Edward, Hoenheim and Envy, they didn't think that it could be anybody but Alphonse.

* * *

Hoenheim caused another Ice figure to seemingly appear from no where, and stopped the enraged Envy for a few moments, and finally, seeing his opportunity, pulled a box from his coat and pressing it onto Envy's outstretched arm, which was in the shape of a point. The box was impaled and Envy suddenly found he couldn't move. "What?" He mumbled angrily, his complexion fading and his body beginning to crackle with alchemic power, unable to hold the created personality in his current state of weakness. "What have you done?" He snarled, glaring at Hoenheim and gritting his teeth.

"If you thought I didn't still know where his grave was…" Hoenheim said, turning away from the bright violet eyes and wiping his brow, sitting down as his old age caught up with him.

"_My _grave." Envy snarled, but Hoenheim shook his head from the lump of rock he was seated on.

"You are not my son," he said, somewhat regretfully. "You're simply a reminder of what I've lost." Envy snarled at him, still trying to move fruitlessly, the crackling still surrounding his body and slowly changing his features.

"Then why did you create me?" He asked angrily. Hoenheim smiled softly, in a cynical fashion.

"I was foolish," He replied quietly. "I believed I could succeed where others had failed…you know the result." He raised his head to face Envy, but quickly lowered his eyes after seeing the golden hair that Envy now possessed, effectively missing the glare Envy sent him.

"You have me at your mercy now," Envy said, something in the admittance that almost caused Hoenheim to wince. "If I was such an accident why don't you destroy me now?"

Hoenheim sighed. 'I'm not a murderer." Envy laughed harshly, his jaw crackling as it also changed shape to a less feminine structure.

"But all those bodies you've occupied over the years? You'll gladly take their lives because it's to your benefit, but you can't end my miserable existence?" Hoenheim didn't answer and the grin fell from Envy's face, replaced by a scowl. "Coward." He spat.

"…you're miserable?" Hoenheim asked, almost at the same time.

Envy snarled, the grin returning. "Of course not. I don't feel emotion other than the sins of the world. I'm gluttonous; I'm lazy; I'm greedy; I'm hateful; I lust for blood, for power; I'm proud; but most of all I want everything you've ever owned. I want everything you have, I'm the most envious person you'll ever meet," There was an insane grin on his face as he said this, and the crackling light had disappeared, leaving Envy in the form he had been created to be, the small box fitting around his fingers. "Most of all, I'm jealous."

"Jealous of what?" Envy's now golden eyes flitted to where the voice had come from and a growl fell from his lips as he saw Edward Elric, walking towards Hoenheim.

"Edward…" Hoenheim muttered, the exhaustion showing through in his voice. Ed reached his side but didn't look at him; his attention was focused instead on Envy, now in the form that had once cost Edward victory. Envy snarled again.

"I don't need to explain myself to you." He said, a threatening tone to his deep voice. Ed could see, out the corner of his eye, Mustang, Wrath, Alphons and Noa approaching and wondered curiously where Al was.

"I thought that maybe you'd grown up in poverty, without friends, or you'd been neglected by your parents." He said in a calm quiet voice. "But you weren't. You had more money than me, a lot more. You had friends, a girlfriend, your country wasn't even ravaged by war, and your parents stood by you for almost everything that I know of your life. I can't figure out, for the life of me what you could possibly be jealous of."

"Well I suppose you'll never know." A silky voice said, the shadows in the doorway of one of the houses changing shape. Eckhart emerged from the shadows, and Hoenheim stood up again as she moved towards Envy, quickly removing the box from his fingers, opening it and discarding the remains inside the crater in the floor, covering it with rocks and gravel. "I didn't expect you to stoop so low Hoenheim of Light, as to desecrate the poor boys grave." She spared a glance in Envy's direction, him having already changed back to his preferred form.

"It's surprising how low human beings will sink," Hoenheim said, a meaningful flash of his eyes.

She smiled the eerie smile that always got on Edwards nerves. "Do you see yet that this was never going to work?" Ed asked her, and she slowly turned her head his way.

"What wasn't going to work Edward?" She asked the false sweetness dripping from her voice as she faced the group that had collected there. She and Envy were outmatched 3 to 1, but she didn't seem to care.

"This whole bomb idea. You'd have been better of creating another homunculus and getting him to infiltrate the military." He grinned lightly. "I think it's time you admitted you're not going to live forever." The smile on Eckhart's face changed drastically until she wore a crude, unpleasant expression.

"Finally caught on have you Edward?" She flashed her violet eyes at him and he realised then that her eyes had changed from the mellow colour they had previously been. "You were more intelligent as a child." She smiled her eerie smile again and continued. "You may outnumber me, but you do not outmatch me." Hoenheim walked forward until he was ahead of the group and standing but a few feet from 'Eckhart'.

"You wouldn't hurt me, would you Dante?" He asked, causing Envy to growl.

"The woman you knew is gone." Envy said a smug look on his face. "There's nothing she won't do." She moved forward and closed the space between them, her hand rising slowly and cupping one side of his face.

"He's right you know. We could've been great Hoenheim of Light. We could have lived forever, side by side." She said, in a quiet voice that still reached everyone's ears. Ed childishly poked his tongue out at Mustang in pretend disgust.

"I've no wish to live forever, Dante." He answered, stepping back as she let her hand drop. "I've lived enough lifetimes; I've stolen enough people's lives." He glanced up at her once again, and backed up to where Mustang, Wrath, and Alphons were preparing for a fight, Noa was looking like she wanted to but unsure, and Edward was merely watching on calmly.

"I can fix that for you," She said, smirking, as she brought her hands together. But before anyone else had the chance to react, Edward spoke loudly.

"No, you wouldn't want to do that." He said, pulling something out of his pocket. "You know well what happens if you were to use alchemy around this," He held the glowing red rock in his hand for all to see, and Mustang and Wrath stared in surprise.

"Where did you find that?" Dante snarled her calm demeanor changed significantly in less than a few seconds.

"Where you left it," He said a victorious smile on his face. "You give me back that bomb, and I'll give you this," He ignored the shocked sounds of protest behind him and continued. "Then maybe you can live your life for a few more pathetic years." He said a surprisingly large amount of spite behind the statement.

Dante gritted her teeth in frustration, a furious expression on her face, but all the same ordered Envy to go and retrieve the bomb. Envy glared lightly, but did it all the same, returning within minutes with the said item while Ed quietly argued with Mustang.

"Are you insane Fullmetal?" Mustang whispered quickly. "The kind of power the woman will have with that item."

"She's not going to do any damage with it. She just wants it so she can survive." Ed answered back.

"For – Fullmetal! She's not old; she's got many years ahead of her to cause plenty of damage before she'll need the thing to…do what exactly?" He asked.

"For Christ's sake Ed, how's she going to cheat death?" Alphons asked, joining the conversation.

"Ask Hoenheim." Wrath said, his arms folded, looking very disinterested with the whole think. All eyes turned to Hoenheim and he sighed.

"Using the stone she can transfer her soul to someone else's body. Not unlike Edward did with Alphonse's. She's been doing it for many years now, she's over 400." He admitted. "I agree with Edward, we'd be better off getting this weapon _before_ she can cause another war and giving her the stone. She won't last much longer anyway, no matter how many bodies she occupies. The soul can't live forever on this world and it's slowly rotting her body." Mustang, despite his bewilderment with the entire idea, continued to point out the flaws with giving the stone to her.

"Well if she uses the stone to get another body won't it reverse the entire rotting process?" Hoenheim shook his head.

"It will, but not for long. That's why she's so desperate for stones, because while she's changing bodies her soul is wearing away faster and faster."

"How do you know this?" Mustang asked, watching out of the corner of his eye as Envy returned with the strange looking object. "How can you guarantee her body will rot?"

Hoenheim sighed, and with a glance in Ed's direction he lifted his sleeve, revealing his own rotting arm. "Because this body is rotting away as well, and I haven't occupied anywhere near half as many as she has." Mustang couldn't do anything but stare.

* * *

Al sat up with a gasp, surprising Havoc, who was sitting beside him. "You're awake." He exclaimed. "You gave us a fright collapsing like that."

"I remember." Al said over him, barely contained excitement in his voice. "I remember everything, and…oh my god." He looked around wildly as Havoc digested the news. "Where are we?" Al asked.

"That's great! You really remember? How?" Havoc asked. But Al quickly stood up from the makeshift bed he was laying on, spotting in the distance the Brosh family. Maria waved at him, a bandage wrapped around her head, and it was then he noticed that he himself was covered in strips of white dressing. They were wrapped around his chest, leg and he could feel smaller ones stuck on his face. "Alphonse?" Havoc asked curiously.

"How long have I been out?" Al asked instead.

"About 20 minutes." Havoc guessed with a shrug, "I was just about to go back do– Hey! Where are you going?" He asked as Al headed towards the underground city entrance.

"Are you coming? Don't even try to stop me going down, I can be as stubborn as brother sometimes." Havoc glanced around cautiously, looking for either Hawkeye or Izumi, neither of whom would agree with allowing the injured man back down into the battle zone.

"Just don't get hurt okay?" he reasoned. "Because it's my ass they'll kick." Al laughed as they headed down into Lebis, quickly arriving at the area of the town he had collapsed in.

"What the hell happened here?" Havoc asked, spotting the slightly new crater in the middle of the floor.

"Brother!" Al called, running down towards the group, Havoc following him shortly, drawing a gun from his side. Ed turned at the call, and a grin spread across his face before he was knocked back from a kick from Envy. "Oops." Al called. He took the scene before him in while he ran towards them.

There was a woman he didn't recognise, whom he assumed was Eckhart, trying to fight against both Mustang and Hoenheim. She wasn't faring too well but he noticed, from where he was standing, that she was slowly making her way towards a strange looking machine. He recognised it from Edward's descriptions as a plane. Ed was fighting Envy, trying to stop the enraged homunculus from reaching a tanned girl who at first glance he thought was Rose. After another more investigative look, he was surprised to see that the woman was holding a red stone, and he recognised at once the same glow that had once been inside his iron body.

"A philosophers stone…" He said, awed, and it was then that he noticed Wrath and Alphons were hovering close to her as well, prepared to fight Envy if Ed couldn't handle it. Al grinned, finally reaching them, and interrupted Envy and Ed's fight, punching Envy hard in the face, making him stumble back.

"Al!" Ed called, in confusion.

"That's for murdering my brother." Al said, then punched him again, "That's for murdering Hughes." Mustang turned to stare at Al in surprise before his face changed to anger.

"What!" He exclaimed. But Al punched Envy again, ignoring Mustangs shout.

"That's for rubbing it in my face;" – again – "that's for only-god-knows what else you've done to my family." He punched him twice more before Envy fell to the floor and Ed moved to Al's side, grinning widely.

"You sure know how to hold a grudge Al." He laughed. Al turned to him however, with a glare on his face and the grin disappeared, the laugh stopped in its tracks. "What? You look like you're gonna hit me too."

"I'd like to." He replied shortly. "Why didn't you tell me?" He demanded.

"…tell you…what?" Ed asked, confused. Al pointed at the now rising Envy.

"About him!" He said. Ed frowned, and then sighed.

"Oh," he said slowly. "I guess…I didn't want to believe it myself and telling you…would've made it a reality. Well now you know anyway. When did you remember?" He asked, but Envy interrupted them, wiping his mouth with his arm.

"Sorry to interrupt the family reunion," he said in a completely unapologetic voice. "I know curiosity killed the cat, but what were the last two punches for?" He asked.

"One was for being a bastard and because I don't like you and the other was for my brother." Havoc laughed behind him.

"You already got him for that Al." But Al shook his head.

"Not Ed…" Envy laughed at that, but he didn't say anything, Havoc and Alphons just looked surprised and confused.

"Dante's taken over Eckhart's body." Ed explained quietly. "This guy," he nodded his head in Envy's direction, "Has been living a lie long enough. I need a circle." Al nodded and ran around the other side of Envy as he lunged once again at Ed.

"I'll kill you, and then I'll get the rest of the family. Or perhaps I should make you watch." He turned at a clap behind him and a blue light began to glow under the ground they were standing, soon a large transmutation circle had been carved from the stone. "What the…" He began before he found that he couldn't move and he turned his eyes to Ed's direction. Ed held out his palm, a grin on his face, and Envy saw a small clump of golden hair in his hand.

"I paid a visit to your house." Ed explained. "And I found some interesting things. There was a baby book, and in it, there was this." Envy looked towards his own arm and saw the few hairs that had fallen there, rendering him completely helpless. Ed stepped outside the circle and clapped his hands together, the sound resounded throughout the block, and he pressed them to the circle, silently praying to whoever it was that was listening that his alchemy would work. He closed his eyes and concentrated and soon enough he heard the sound of retching – as unpleasant as it was – and opened his eyes to see that Envy was throwing up the red stones in his body.

"No!" Ed heard the cry from Dante but he continued anyway. "No! That's my son, Hoenheim stop him!" Despite not being able to look at the sight, at the same time Hoenheim couldn't stop it. "That's your son you bastard stop him! You monster!" She cried at Ed. "He's your brother; you murdered your own brother!" Mustang held her back as she yelled at Ed until the thing that had once been Envy was nothing more than a fast evaporating red puddle. She wrenched herself from Mustang's grip and ran to the plane that Al had seen when he was heading down and placed the bomb in an already prepared pocket.

Her eyes glinted dangerously, and she started the plane, spinning the propeller and the plane began to move forward slowly. "What the hell are you doing?" Ed asked, running forward to try and stop it, as well as Alphons, those two and Hoenheim the only ones who were aware of what it would do.

"I'll destroy you all, murderer." She said, in a deadly tone and an insane grin spread across her face.

"You'll destroy yourself!" Ed yelled, reaching the plane and jumping on just as it began to lift up, he got into the pilots' seat as the plane wobbled dangerously, heading up and up towards nearing houses roofs. **(1)**

"Brother!" Al called out, as Ed clapped his hands together and placed them on the small bomb, the thing fell apart in his hands and the plane rose higher as he directed it up, half blinded by the wind. He raised it up further and further until it was nearly at the roof of the large city and then he jumped. He plummeted closer to the ground when he suddenly landed in a large net, a hard net.

"Ow…" He sat up and saw Alphonse's grinning face.

"There aren't lovely comfortable materials to transmute, Brother." He explained. "What was that?" he looked up to the roof as the plane crashed into and exploded in a great burst of flame and smoke. But before he had the chance to answer Dante came out of the shadows, a gun in her hand and pointed it at Ed.

"You…you…" she couldn't think of anything, her hand shook. "You've ruined everything!" She screamed, "You – insolent – _bastard! _You've outlived your usefulness." And before anybody could react, or reach her to knock away she pressed the trigger.

There was an echoing shot, a gasp of surprise, then…darkness and silence.

* * *

**_September 2nd 1537_**

_I asked Monique to take me outside to see the stars one last time. They were indeed just as I remembered them. As I stared out into their depths, once again my thoughts drifted to just how little I matter. It is as Mothers theory states: "All is one, one is all," Even if I die all that remains are the chemicals my body is made of. Where does my soul go after death? Where do we come from? Will we return there? Where will we go?_

_After all this time in bed with not much else but the knowledge that I am soon to no longer exist in this world I've had a lot of time to think. I know these thoughts aren't necessarily cheerful, and I know that I'm soon going to perish, but I can't help but be curious as to what awaits me._

_Many say that death is merely the beginning, that life is hardly the first step; yet some say we are reincarnated and after each step of life we proceed to something better; and there are even more farfetched theories. There are questions you can ponder until the day you die and still not receive an answer. Are you given a choice? Is there a heaven, or a hell? Who can know surely?_

_All these thoughts and more raced through my head as I sat under the stars with Monique until the energy to sit deserted me and she brought me to the family room, where I now sit. The fire is still crackling and Fathers whisky is on the table, nearly empty. Mother and Father have indeed been taking it hard. What must it be like to lose one's only child? I suppose I'll never know, not in this lifetime anyway._

_I'm becoming increasingly worried about Mothers mental state; she's not acting at all like herself. I hear her and Father talking in hushed voices when they think I'm asleep and I fear they plan to do something incredibly stupid._

_I know, to a certain extent, a lot about alchemy, about equivalent exchange and the rules when transmuting. Every so often you hear of an alchemist who attempted Human Transmutation…only to fail miserably. Not one has succeeded to create anything more than a fleeting shadow of what is supposed to be a human being. Not one has yet survived. This has deterred many alchemists from straying down that path but always the failures continue to pile up. Arrogant people who think they can do better than predecessors who have tried. Some have pure intentions but none have pleasant results. I know that when you lose someone close to you, you will try almost anything, just to see their face again._

_I hope against hope that my assumptions are wrong and Mother and Father don't turn to that as a last resort to 'save me'. As much as I don't want to die, I certainly don't want to come back at the expense of their lives. Surely they have the brains not to attempt it? They have each other and they can always have more children. Don't get me wrong, you musn't think I enjoy the predicament I'm in, but I fear their deaths more than my own. _

_I think I heard Father say the with the Philosophers Stone Human Transmutation may be possible, and while I agree with him, chasing the Stone is an even more ridiculously impossible notion. I've heard rumors of the untimely deaths that those who seek the Stone suffer in their journey, and I wouldn't wish that upon anyone. People are beginning to name it "The devils errand". _

_Either of these choices is dangerous and I once again hope against hope that the ridiculous thoughts are all in my head for I'd rather be paranoid than right. However I fear otherwise. _

_There are so many reasons I want to live and once again I dwell on how life can be so cruel. I wish to leave you with some words of wisdom – for this will be my last entry – but they escape me. These things don't suddenly materialize when asked for it seems. I don't, however, wish to have some inspiring famous last words which are all people remember me for. I don't wish for anything wittingly humorous to be put as my epitaph. What would it say anyway? "I told you I was sick," "Well this sucks"? Certainly not for these don't explain me at all. _

_I want to be remembered for who I was, not what I said in my last minutes. I want to be remembered for who I am. Do you know who I am? I am not a name, I am not a face, and I am not a few clever words. I consist of a mind, a body, and a soul, that it what I am, but who? I am – in every sense of the word – me. The only son of Dante and Hoenheim Elric; in the year 1537 anyway._

_Just me._

_Goodbye dear journal, sweet world. Goodbye Annabelle, Don, Raff, Mother and Father, and everybody else. No matter how much I've tried to avoid it my death is upon me, somewhere I've found the energy to write this last entry, because this journal has become important to me. I resisted the urge to burn it, and that in itself is something to be proud of. These are my final words, this is my parting message._

_This has been my life, I found it worth living.

* * *

_

'_Dying is natures way of saying "Hey, you're not alive anymore!"'

* * *

_

**(1) **Wow! Can planes actually do all of that!? You can tell I'm never going to be a pilot!!

**GASP!! What are you doing woman!! XD **

**As you can probably tell from the last couple of chapters these kinds of scenes and stuff is NOT my forte. Thanks to an idea given to me by one of you lovely reviewers, I have decided to put the last chapter up on Christmas day; so understandably, they'll be put up quicker than normal. Tis going to be my Christmas gift…though now that I think about it…never mind shifty eyes So yes, I hope you enjoyed this chapter somewhat, and seasons greetings and all that stuff. XD**

**DoThePieFace**


	22. Edward Elric: The Fullmetal Alchemist

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything entailed in this story that may be related to it, and/or copyrighted. I merely have too much time on my hands, and a wild imagination.

**Summary: **15 years have passed and Ed has finally returned to the world where he belongs. But he brings with him secrets and deception, as well as a shadowy enemy. Can Al and the others realise the danger of the enemies Ed's made before it's too late? Or has his fate already been set in stone?

**Set In Stone**

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

**Edward Elric: The Fullmetal Alchemist**

_To be, or not to be: that is the question:  
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;  
No more; and by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks_

_Shakespeare _

An impressive crowd gathered on the day; despite the fact that it looked like it was going to rain. Grey clouds stormed overhead, rumbling threateningly; the people emerged from their houses, with dark clothing and somber faces. They did it because he had been a hero.

He _had _been a hero, worthy of memories as grand as his temper.

People approached the two of them, granting their condolences, but many stayed away, because they knew it wasn't what they wanted to hear. They didn't want to hear apologies, they didn't want to receive sympathy, at that point and time, Alphonse Elric didn't think he could've cared for their words less. Maybe later he could take the time to appreciate the gestures, the kind soft-spoken words. But right then and there, he was feeling very anti-social.

It was only after a moment that he realised the people had stopped coming and that finally they were alone. His eyes stung. He was alone, truly alone. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this…" he said, his throat raspy and his voice hoarse.

"I know." She whispered back.

"Why did he..? What was he think-" But he stopped there, because he couldn't say anymore. He heard Winry sigh next to him.

"Nobody knows what goes through Edward's mind." The corners of her lips twitched in a shadow of a smile, but they didn't quite get there. "I don't think that he even knew. But I know he didn't mean for this to happen." She sighed again, and took his hand, pulling him towards the group of people gathered near a large black coffin. "Come on." She whispered.

They lowered it slowly, and friends threw things in after it: flowers, letters, and objects that wore meaning to them. Winry carefully placed a single black rose, but Al had nothing to put there. The brothers had never owned anything, not anything that he'd want to lose forever anyway. Al held his wife's hand as the coffin was buried, his head was lowered, and his eyes were shadowed. It was sad, he mused, that he was the only family there.

He didn't know why…but his father had left once again.

* * *

"_Dad?" Al asked, rising as the older man packed his things. Mustang and Hawkeye were there, as was Winry. "Where are you going?" His father didn't answer, he merely shook his head. Too much had happened, so much information had to be digested that Mustang didn't think that he minded Hoenheim was leaving. Things had been so much simpler without him there, and he still hadn't forgotten the words he had told him so long ago._

"You can never trust someone who's lived that long, remember that."_ And Mustang did, but he wished the man would stay, merely because Alphonse looked so distressed. If it was a lot to swallow for Mustang, he couldn't imagine what the youngest Elric brother was feeling. He had to deal with a new brother, a step-mother that had been so before his own was born, and his 400 year old father. _

"_You can't leave." Al said, a hint of anger in his voice, but Hoenheim wasn't listening, and if he did hear, he made no move to calm the man. "Its brothers…" he stopped. "…just a few more days. What's so urgent that you can't wait?" Hoenheim finally stopped packing, and though he didn't turn they could still here his voice clearly. _

"_I can't…not again." He said, as though that would explain it, and he continued to pack, finally folding his last shirt and closing the suitcase on his belongings. He stepped towards the door and none of them moved to stop him. He opened the door, and glanced back at the four of them._

"_Fine." Al said bitterly when he turned around again, intent on leaving. "Leave; after all, it's the only thing you're good at." None of them felt that they should say anything to stop him. Alphonse had every right to be angry, and somewhere inside them they believed what he was saying. "It's family and friends thing only anyway." Hoenheim closed the door and Al left soon after with a short apology. He didn't follow the man, but went a different way, heading to the roof of the building. He couldn't care less if he never saw the man again.

* * *

_

Alphonse looked around at the somber faces that he knew; the faces, which had such an event not dampened his spirits; he would've been overjoyed to remember. He named them as he recognised their aged faces, silently going through the list in his mind so as not to have to listen to the person speaking at the head of the grave.

Russell and Tringham Fletcher, Close, Clara or Psiren, Halling and a few of the other villagers, Rick and Leo from Ishbal, Armstrong and his family, Mrs. Hughes, Elicia, Scheiska, Havoc, Breda, Falman, Fuery, Maria, Denny and their two daughters, Izumi, Sig, Mason, Wrath, Rose, Alphons, Noa. He even recognised faces of many people who they grew up with in Risembool, not that it was surprising seeing as that's where the funeral was being held. **(1)**

He sighed and gripped Michelle's hand tighter, as she shifted Nina in her remaining arm. Mustang had meant to come, so had Hawkeye, but Al wasn't about to blame them for not showing up. Hawkeye couldn't very well tell the baby to stay in for a couple more days. They were in the tiny hospital that was in Risembool, he could even see it from where he stood, overlooking the green fields.

He felt bad for the tears that Winry tried so hard to hold back, when he himself wasn't crying. He'd done enough of that. There was a dull throb in his heart that he'd only felt a few times in his life. Once was when his mother had died, another was when Pinako had. There was so much death in his life, now that his memories had been restored to him he could remember so many other times that people important in his life had died.

As well as his Mother and Pinako, there was Nina, Hughes, Martel and all of Greed's other gang members, and now…

He felt helpless; the last thing that he had ever depended on, the thing that had driven him forward all those years was gone. The hope of finding his brother had driven him to find so much, one of the things he found was the woman next to him whom he called his wife, yet…he'd been unable to stop his brothers' death. He didn't just feel helpless, he felt useless.

Michelle had convinced him it was just survivors' guilt when he'd confined his feelings in her, and somewhere inside him he knew it was true, but at the same time, he knew he could've done more. He had been right there, if she'd shot a little more to the left…

No sooner had he thought that than he shook the notion from his head. He was no use to his family or anyone dead, and Edward had lost enough family members. The only 'if' he could dwell on was, 'If only he'd lived.'

The day wore on and the sun slowly inched its way across the sky, still hidden behind the dark looming clouds, and soon Alphonse realised that he was almost alone at the grave. Every one else had left for the Rockbells, where most of them were squeezing into the tiny house, or spreading out in tents in the back yard. Despite being the sole owner of the Rockbell house, Winry stood beside him, their two shadows were the only ones that could be distinctly seen across the green rolling hills.

"Somehow…" Winry said quietly over the small wind. "I knew it would always end like this…that one of you…" She sighed, a deep reverberating sadness in the expression. "Bastard." She said, angrily. "What'd you go and die for? You never think of anyone else." Alphonse understood the anger that she felt, he had felt it too at first, and it still lingered.

* * *

_Michelle was worried. Alphonse had come home from their dangerous trip into the underground city almost two days after he'd left. He'd called from the hospital, and said that he was alright but he needed to stay for something. Then, only a few hours ago he'd arrived home, and she could tell something was wrong. That's when she found out, that Edward was dead. _

_She'd rocked the crying baby to sleep as Al had locked himself in his study, she didn't know what he was doing in there but after the shock he'd received it probably wasn't anything good. She wanted him to come out into the lounge, to sit next to her and tell her what happened, explain the bandages, explain the pained look and the anger in his eyes. Nina had just fallen asleep when she heard the loud crash. _

_She stood up quickly and laying the baby in her cot she rushed to Al's study room. She knocked on the door. "Alphonse?" She called quietly. Al could hear the anxious confusion in her voice, but he stood, breathing angrily in the middle of the room, his clock smashed against the wall, the hands were still ticking against the smashed face, until they slowed and finally stopped. He let out a frustrated cry and buried his face in his hands, sitting down and leaning heavily against his bookshelf. He heard Michelle fiddling with the doorknob and the door soon opened. "Alphonse?" She asked again. "Oh, honey…" _

_She fell to her knees beside him, and wrapped her arms comfortingly around him. "Why'd he…why'd _he _have to die?" Al asked, his throat constricted and his voice cracked. _

"_I don't know Alphonse, I…I just don't know." She whispered, not knowing what else she could say. He stood up and moved over to the broken clock, picking up the pieces to distract himself from his thoughts. "Why the clock?" She asked at last, unable to figure out why he'd have gone to the trouble of taking off his wall and flinging it to the floor. _

"_I…" He began, scoffing somewhat. "My stupid attempt to stop time…" He shook his head slightly. "It didn't work." He admitted. "Time goes on like it always has, the Earth keeps spinning, the sun keeps shining, and most of the world doesn't care, Michelle. We're nothing but insignificant specks. We're as unimportant as…as an ant over in Xing that I've never cared about!" He said, his voice subconsciously rising. But he noticed and queitened the tone. "The world's a bitch." He said bitterly. "And reality sucks."_

"_Then don't think about it." Michelle said, "Who cares? Who cares what everyone else thinks, Alphonse? Reality is that you're hurt because of it. Don't think about the logics, don't try to wrap your science up into it, just let go. Just cry, because bottling it up's not good. The clock can tell you that." She joked. Al sighed and let out a chocked sob. _

"_I don't know what I'd do without you." He admitted, wrapping his arms around her and just…letting go.

* * *

_

A light drizzle had started, and it soon turned into a downpour but neither of them cared about the pelting rain and the freezing wind. They stood together at the grave, like they had before. "Everything seems to happen to you, Alphonse. Everything seems to happen to us." Winry said, over the loud wind, but a rumble of thunder followed her voice and they turned their heads towards the dark clouds overhead.

A strike of lightning forked across the sky and a booming roar was soon heard after. "We better head back." Al said, turning back to Winry. "The last thing we need is to get stuck by lightning standing here." She nodded silently, and despite the looming threat, the two slowly made their way back to the house.

They had to pass the ruins of the old Elric house as they did so, and Al stared at the rotten, almost degraded ruins. That was where it had all started, or had it? Surely they had transmuted their mother in that house, they had studied for that purpose, and that decision had driven them on the path they had travelled, but perhaps it had started before that. Perhaps it had started at her funeral, maybe Ed had been toying with the idea long before then, Al knew he had. A whisper rolled across the green fields and reached his ears, a memory from a distant past.

"_Brother," _It was his own voice, as they had sat at the gravestone, they were alone. _"Brother I'm cold." _He still hadn't got a reaction from the despondent boy. _"I'm hungry. How are we gonna do it Brother? How are we gonna live without her?" _

That was when it had started, when Ed had heard his younger brothers concerns, he had reached his final decision, he had thrown wind to caution, he had been desperate. _"We're not," _He had answered with such determination that a spark of hope had lit in Alphonse's heart. _"We're going to bring her back." _And even the uncertainty Al had felt couldn't outweigh the bright horizon that was visible in that one sentence, the possibility, the notion, was crazy, but he was just a child.

They didn't know any better.

* * *

Edward was vaguely aware of the fact that the hysterical, insane woman had shot the gun. That the sound had echoed throughout the city, more so than their voices, more so than any other gunshot for their entire battle. He was vaguely aware of a sharp pain above his midriff, vaguely aware that he let out a sharp involuntary gasp, but he couldn't concentrate on anything but the look on Hoenheim's face. 

Ed sympathized; he had felt somewhat the same way when sloth had died. He had taken, in a small way, Hoenheim's first son from him. Whether he was a fake or not, he had meant to be his flesh and blood. But the look on Hoenheim's face as his knees gave out underneath him and he sunk to the floor, was enough to shake him out of his musings. "Brother!" Al caught him, falling to the floor at the same time, but saving Ed from getting injured further on the concrete.

As soon as the shot had been fired, Fuery and Havoc had leapt on Dante, bringing her down with their own round of bullets, and her rotted flesh was torn from her body until she fell to the ground, dead. Alphons, as well as everyone else, quickly surrounded Al and Ed, and Alphons sat down next to them and tore his shirt, pressing the blue military uniform to Ed's wound, causing the man to hiss in pain. "Sorry." Alphons apologised shortly, but didn't let up on the pressure. "Are you alright?"

"Considering…" Ed said, with a shaky grin.

"You idiot." Al scolded, worry seeping into him as Ed's blood seeped through his clothing. "What the hell were you thinking? Did you think you could fly? You'd have died falling from that height."

"Well…I didn't," Ed argued, but he didn't have much of a strong case, and Al muttered that quietly to him as Alphons tried to make a makeshift bandage. He made Edward sit up and wrapped the material around the bullet hole but Ed muttered quietly, so only he could hear. "I don't think it's working." He said, and Alphons noticed the glazed look in his eye, and the dribble of blood from the side of his mouth. He didn't listen though, and with the help of Al, he hoisted Ed's arm around his shoulder and the two of them helped him walk to the nearest exit.

Al began to panic, he could feel Ed's skin getting colder and colder and Mustang ended up carrying Edward in his arms when he couldn't walk anymore. "Brother…Edward…" Al murmured, shaking his shoulders as they half-ran to the surface. "Wake up,"

"Slap him." Mustang ordered and Al did so, as best he could while they were running but nothing could keep him awake and he passed out. It was only when they were driving in the speeding ambulance that Ed opened his eyes again, seeing Al at his side.

"If you die, I'll never forgive you." Al threatened, his voice was shaking and so was he, and his eyes were more watery than usual.

"Sorry…" Ed murmured. "For…lying…sorry…Alphonse…" He coughed, and blood flew past his lips and in that moment Alphonse wondered desperately where that Philosophers Stone had gone. **(2)**

By the time Mustang and the rest of the group had arrived at the hospital, no more than 10 minutes later, it was too late. The doctor told them that they'd made a valiant effort, and had the bullet been a clean shot he would've lived. But it had nicked his right lung and by the time they'd gotten to it he had drowned in his own blood. Mustang opened the door to confirm the sight for himself, he didn't want to believe it, but when he'd seen the form of Alphonse, leaning over his brothers' body sobbing heart wrenchingly…he didn't have the heart to interrupt him.

He closed the door quietly after only taking a half-step into the room, and turned to face the ashen faces of his team. He shook his head, and for all of them, that confirmed it, he leaned heavily against the door and sunk to the floor. "Not again…" He muttered, barely loud enough for anyone to hear him. Yet, despite the commotion going on around him he could still hear Alphonse's cries through the door, and unlike anything else, it made him feel so much worse.

"Please…" Al sobbed, clutching at Edwards cold-lifeless body. His golden eyes were closed for the last time, and Al never thought that it would ever end like this. He had only meant to help, he had only meant well. "Please….wake up." He cried, unable to stop, his heart ached deep in his body, and he wished and wished that it was all just a dream. "Wake up, brother. I'm sorry. I forgive you, just don't…" He hiccupped and chocked. "…don't leave me alone. Please…just wake up."

But no sound came from his older sibling. No words of comfort helped him deal with the grief. And the memory of their life together swirled around in his head, of all their efforts, of their trials, their tribulations, the horrors, the heartache…all for nothing. _That's reality for you, all the effort he gave got him nothing in return, you can pay all you want it's never enough._

"Please…wake up."

But no matter how much Alphonse cried for his brother to come back, to wake up…he never did. The still body on the bed wasn't his brother, he wasn't strong, determined, caring, and ready for a fight. He wasn't the renegade military dog. What had made his brother, his brother, had disappeared from this world…and Alphonse missed it more than anything else in the universe. There ended the life of the famous hero of the people, the famous Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric.

* * *

'_Eat right, exercise, die anyway'

* * *

_

**(1) **Did I miss anyone?

**(2) **Seriously, where'd it go? What's that? You forgot entirely about it and so decided to decide that it blew up with the plane? Well alright.

**Do mine eyes deceive me? What does that clock say? 7.00 a.m? And you're already awake? Stupid little sister, I told her to wake me up, but not before 6.00 so they come in my room and are like "Oh yeah, it's quarter to 6" and I get up and look at the clock and it's NOT quarter to 6, it's 5 AM!! So now I've been up for 2 whole hours (wow!!) And have already watched the movie I got XD. Anyway, I don't know what time it is in where ever all of you live but I hope this was relatively close to, if not on, Christmas Day. Not the cheeriest gift I'm sure, but something nonetheless XD. **

**I did actually write an alternative ending for this story and it can be found in my profile page, because I can't put links in through the document manager. H****owever, you might have to read a couple of paragraphs from the chapter before it, which is actually this chapter, only with an added bit. And some people said it was a little cliché but I like both. You can read it if you want. XD**

**I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed throughout this story and I shall say thanks to you all (despite the fact that I know you're just going to scan it for your own name or ignore it completely) so thank-you to: EdElricRules, Mistress of the Night5, Harryswoman, iceprincess421, agent000, Kitty Kat, Erienne-Elric, Kimiko Sakato, Kuropuu, Tressa, Winry-15, Miroku'z Girl, Bloody Sword Alchemist, Malicious-Alchemist, Marz1, NoZoMi17, Renneh, Fireheart Alchemist, E.Mahiru, richard9311, ThePatheticWriter, This is my name, X.ElementAlchemist.X, Pocky Demon, Sakura, Paleshadow, kay, Jenny and Risika135. Thankyou all again, and goodnight!! (Or morning XD) **

**-Big dramatical bow-**

**DoThePieFace**


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